In the Closet
by TeenTypist
Summary: While Dairine and Roshaun continue trying to sort out Wellakh's drought problem and new government structure, Nita and Kit are ready to find a new project now that the Pullulus is gone. Where will it take them? K/N, D/R Sequel to A Rescue of Sorts, Chapter 15 now up!
1. Closets

_**In the Closet**_

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_Author's Note:_ Hi, everybody. This is the sequel to A Rescue of Sorts. I forgot how much I enjoy writing until I got back into it this week. I whipped this up last night. This is chapter one; it was originally going to be a one-shot, with a different ending to the chapter, but I decided it would serve as a good springboard for the sequel. I'm not exactly sure where it's going yet. There will be more of Kit and Nita in this one than the last one; it's their turn in the sun, though there will of course still be Dairine and Roshaun. I don't think I've quite got the subtlety in this chapter that I had in the last story, but, judge for yourselves. This is a more obvious pairing and I'm still working on the rest of the plot. Enjoy, and as always, review, because I love knowing what you think (and my mind reading powers are abismal).

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_Disclaimer: The characters in question belong to Diane Duane. I own only the plot._

**Chapter 1: Closets**

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Nita wondered at just why she had been so glad to have Dairine back. In the month that Dairine had been home she had grown alternately more irritable as well as more relax (she just had to be caught in the right mood), and she continued being a generally annoying sister. However, Nita was still glad to have her back...most of time. During that time she visited Wellakh for two weekends. The first was two weeks ago, and the last was this past weekend. Nita and her dad had both been surprised to find that Dairine brought Roshaun back with her. Dairine had quite sensibly realized that so long as she and Roshaun did not physically have to be on Wellakh sorting out a spell for the drought problem, she could bring him to Earth to work and not miss school. It was now Monday afternoon and Roshaun had been here since last night. Nita could hear them arguing downstairs. She had offered help and they told her that they would manage just fine. 

So it was that Nita found herself cleaning her room. It needed cleaning and she had nothing better to do on this Monday afternoon. She was glad to have company though. She looked over at Kit, who was spinning in circles in her chair.

"Why don't you make yourself useful?" she asked, grumpily.

"Why? It's not my mess," was his cheeky response.

She balled up a sweatshirt on the floor and threw it at him. He caught it. "I helped you last time when your mom wasn't going to let you come out to the movies with us if you hadn't had yours clean."

Kit considered. "Fair enough. What can I do?"

Nita looked around. She wanted company, but there's not all that much another person can do when you're trying to sort through things and put them away where they belong. Right now she was sorting out her desk, which was a mass of papers, most of which needed to get thrown out. She glanced around the room. There was no way for Kit to know which clothes on her floor were clean or dirty, but she happened to know that that last time she brought laundry up, she had tossed the lot into the closet. He could hang it up. She was pretty sure most of it was t-shirts and jeans. If the odd bra was in there, he'd just leave it be and not say anything and she'd ignore it until he was gone. "Hang up all the clean clothes at the bottom of my closet."

Kit rolled his eyes and went to the closet to get to work. "The things I do for you."

She grinned at him. "Thank you." She looked at the papers on her desk in disgust. She didn't feel like sorting these. "I'm going to get a sandwich; you want me to bring you anything?"

"Ham sandwich if you've got any ham left. And how come you're taking a break?"

"I've been working, and I'm going to keep working, I just need some fuel. I'll be back in a minute."

Kit grumbled and kept hanging things. He didn't mind, not really. He hated doing laundry—and that included putting it away—but…it was _Neets_. They'd risked their lives for one another more than once, he'd been there for her through her mother's death, and she was there for him as he tried to get over losing Ponch. He knew there was no comparison between losing your mother and losing a dog, but all the same, the last month and a half or so without Ponch had been tough. Tomorrow afternoon he and Nita were going to go to go the pound to pick out a new dog. He could never replace Ponch, and he knew that, but living without a dog at his feet had been tough and he was willing to take a new one into his life now. So, for Nita, who had been there for him since their first spell together and since meeting Fred, he would put laundry away. Besides which, she was bringing him a sandwich. That in mind, he got to work.

He looked through the pile. Mostly t-shirts and a few pairs of jeans. He wondered briefly if the t-shirts were supposed to get hung in the closet or folded in the dresser. The closet seemed more likely since that's where she had dumped them. He'd worked his way through about half a dozen t-shirts, a bra which he decide to leave where he found it, two pairs of jeans, and a pair of shorts he couldn't remember ever having seen before he had to go hunting through the closet for more hangers. In the midst of his hunt, towards the back of the closet next to an Easter or Christmas looking dress that he couldn't remember Nita ever wearing, he found something which confused him even more. At the back of the closet, hanging to it's skirt hanger by only one clip, was a short denim skirt. He had two thoughts almost at once. The first was _Nita never wears anything like this_, and the second was _Why doesn't she? She'd probably look really good in it_. He could have smacked himself.

No, no, and _no_. Nita was his best friend. She would completely flip out if she knew he was picturing her in this skirt. However, as he pictured is, he realized that it would look very good on her. Then again, he thought she looked good in just about anything she wore. He really shouldn't be thinking like this. A crush—however long he'd had it—was _not_ worth losing his best friend over. Still, the skirt would look good. He signed and put it back in the closet.

"Kit, what are you doing?" asked Nita, coming in with two bottles of water and two plates with sandwiches.

He hastily let go of the skirt, which fell to the floor of the closet. "I was looking for hangers," he said guiltily. Why should he feel guilty? He had been looking for hangers when he found the skirt.

Nita laughed and cocked an eyebrow at him. "What did you have in your hand a second ago? _That_ wasn't a hanger." She really hoped she wasn't blushing. It looked like he had found the mini-skirt she'd bought with her mom shortly before her diagnosis. She'd only worn it once and had been mocked at school for it. The boys who smoked by the fence complimented her legs and her butt, and then made fun of her for her brain. It served them right that Kit had then used some sort of coughing spell against them. She braced herself. Either Kit would deny it and move on, or he would make fun of her for it and say it was something Carmela would wear. Strike that, Carmela would probably where a shorter one. "I might add, you're a horrible liar and you're not getting your sandwich 'til we get this over with."

Kit grumbled. "Only because I'm hungry. I found this." He held up the skirt.

Nita rolled her eyes to hide her embarrassment. He had found exactly what she thought he had found. "Alright, give it your best shot."

He was confused. "How do you mean?"

She put down the plates and glasses on the bed and stood with her hands on her hips. "Is that a skirt or a belt? Oh yeah, Neets, _that_ looks like something you'd wear. Feel free to interject anytime," she added.

Kit looked perplexed and scratched his head. He tossed the skirt down on the heap of clean clothes. "Sometimes you really don't understand me at all. I wasn't going to make fun of you."

She snorted. Yeah right.

"What?"

"Kit, you and I make fun of each other all the time. Am I really supposed to believe you weren't going to make fun of me for this?" She could still remember when they were first finding out about one another and starting to practice wizardry and learning more about one another as they started working with longer forms of their names. Poetry. Books about horses. It seemed like a very, long time ago. Like another life time ago.

"Believe or not, I wasn't going to make fun of you. I was just surprised by it is all. It doesn't look like something you'd usually wear. I've known you for a while now and can't remember you ever wearing it."

"I wore to school…once."

Kit hunted in his mind trying to find a picture of her in that skirt and he honestly couldn't remember. "Really?"

"Yeah. And some guys made fun of me for it and you retaliated." She looked at the floor. "It was a while ago."

Kit looked at Nita from across the room. "For what it's worth, Neets, I wouldn't make jokes about you like that."

"Thanks, Kit." After a brief pause they both settled onto the bed to eat their sandwiches.

"You're so insecure, you know that? You think everybody's out to get you," he commented, finishing off the last of his ham sandwich.

"I do not."

"Yes you do. Honestly, why would I tease you? I'm not Dairine."

"You have teased me before and you'll do it again, just like I'll tease you, _El Nino_."

Kit punched her lightly in the arm.

"Besides, aren't you going to get back to hanging up the rest of my clothes?"

He rolled his eyes. "I don't know. After you accused me of something so hurtful, I don't know if I can. Or if I want to." He gave a false sniff.

Nita and he both laughed and he returned to hanging up clothes and she went back to sorting out her papers. She threw a great many of them away and left more still in a stacks to be further sorted or put away. By the time he had finished hanging up everything from the closet floor, Nita had given up on the paperwork and started clearing her floor. She took the clearly dirty clothes and tossed them in the hamper, trying to make sure bras and underwear weren't visible—fortunately she didn't tend to leave those on the floor. She found a few more articles of clean clothing and tossed them to him. She threw away paper or put them in the stack of to-be-sorted sheets. She put books back on her bookshelf and tossed her shoes under the bed. When there seemed to be no work for Kit, he lounged back on the bed, eyes closed and hands behind his head.

"So what were Dairine and Roshaun up to? Sucking face?" he asked. Teasing Dairine was always a safe topic.

Nita made a face. That was _not_ an image she needed. "Thank you, Captain Gross. I don't need to picture my baby sister 'sucking face' with some guy."

Kit shrugged. "Carmela parades her boys around the house."

"Well, Dairine and Roshaun weren't kissing or anything. They were working on that spell, and arguing over the best way to go about it now that they feel like they've figured out the cause. He might be here all week." She stuffed a pile of notes from last semester's math class in the already full trashcan.

"Where's he staying anyway? I don't he'd like the basement without his pup tent," Kit asked curiously.

Nita sat in her desk chair, taking a break for a minute. "Dad set him up down in the living room. He's got blankets and sheets and pillows on the couch. Did you see the massive suitcase when you came in?"

"No, I didn't pass through the living room."

"I think he's probably got more stuff stashed in Dairine's room. There are a whole bunch of bizarre looking shampoos and things in the bathroom now. He's only been here one night." She absentmindedly thumbed through her wizard manual, not stopping on any given page. "I think he'll stay until Friday, and Friday Dairine will pack up and go back to Wellakh with him for the weekend—if they've gotten the spell down to something they can at least try out."

Kit gave a yawn. He'd been up studying for a history test the night before. "And what about your dad? How's he feel about Dairine's boyfriend moving for the week?"

Nita made a face at him. "_Dairine's boyfriend_. It just doesn't sound right. He's alright…mostly. He just made it perfectly clear to Roshaun that his bed is on the couch."

He snorted. "It's not like they're going to do something, Dairine's not stupid enough to rush into anything. And if they were going to, they could do it wherever they liked in the afternoon before your dad got home from work. Stopping them from sleeping in the same bed at night is pointless."

Nita made a face. "This is my baby sister! The runt. Thinking about her even not doing anything is creepy enough. He was in her room for a while last night. I passed by eventually and the door was open. Do you know what they were doing?"

"Do I want to?"

"She was sitting there, next to him, brushing his hair. I can't imagine her doing that for anybody. She was never really one for a lot of human contact. She had her books and her computer and she was happy. Spot made a good partner for her because he wasn't really human."

Kit shrugged again. "People change. It's about time she started working with a partner, I think. Somebody as strong-headed as Roshaun won't let her have her way all the time. It'll be good for her. And who knows? Maybe having a boyfriend will help with her social skills. The Powers know she needs it."

"Yeah. I can't imagine going back to practicing wizardry alone. We've worked together almost since the beginning."

"Yeah." He reached out and poked her in the ribs. "Your social skills need any work?" he asked teasingly.

She laughed, but had a hard time finding it funny, mostly because it didn't quite seem fair. She had liked Kit for a _lot_ longer that Dairine had even known Roshaun. It didn't quite seem fair to her that Roshaun worked up the courage to do something about it before she even really knew how Kit felt about her and before she'd ever really said anything about it to him. She supposed if she didn't have the guts to tell him how she felt, she could blame him for not saying anything him—not that he even necessarily _did_ feel anything for her other than friendship. She sometimes thought she saw signs, but it was really just wishful thinking. "Oh, yeah, we'll get right on _that_." She laughed again for good measure and looked around. The room was about as clean as she could be bothered with just now.

"So, I've been thinking…"

"About…?"

"We haven't done too much in the way of projects since the Pullulus."

"I figured the Powers were giving us a break."

Kit sat up looking annoyed. "I know. And I needed the break, and I wanted it, but all the same…it's weird, you know? Not having half a dozen problems hanging my head. Do you know what I did last night? I stayed up late not working on some complex spell or reading my manual, but instead, reading three chapters out of my history book. It just…it feels like that part of me has kind of been missing these last weeks—now that the shock of the Pullulus and Ponch and everything has worn off—and I miss it. I don't want to lose it."

She turned to the Oath in the book that was still on her lap. "Wizardry will not live in the unwilling soul."

"My soul's not unwilling, the Powers just haven't handed me anything. We can't force our way onto assignments that They don't see fit to give us."

Nita got an idea. "What if we went over to Tom and Carl to see if they have anything for us to look into?"

Kit brightened. "Yeah! That might do it. Tell them thanks for the vacation but we want to get back to work."

"Work should up next month when we're out of school," she reminded him, reaching for her shoes.

"Yeah. Especially if Dairine's not around."

Nita paused. "Not around?"

"Come on, you can't think she'll stay around here all summer? She'll be off at Wellakh as soon as she can manage since she won't have to worry about missing school, and that'll be one less wizard working here for a while."

Nita thought he had a point. She put her manual away into her other-space pocket. She looked around. It was warm out, so she didn't need a jacket or anything for the walk to Tom and Carl's. They hadn't been over there in a while.

Kit picked up the plates and glasses and they passed through the kitchen to put them in the sink. "Hey, Roshaun, Dairine. How's it going?"

Dairine, annoyed, looked at him. "We're trying to work."

Roshaun's face was unreadable. "I'm trying to work, Dairine, _you_ are simply proposing variations of the same idea over and over again."

"No, I'm proposing the idea that's going to work if you'd only actually listen to it."

"No, we agreed that that was _not_ the main cause of the drought."

"It's a contributing cause and we can use it to get to the main cause."

Nita decided to jump in before the argument got worse. "If Dad comes looking for us before we get back, tell him we're at Tom and Carl's."

"Fine," Dairine said, still glowering at Roshaun.

"So you admit my way is right?"

"_No_, I was speaking to my sister. You're still wrong. We've gone over this a dozen times in the last half hour. Your way isn't going to work."

"Neither is yours," he replied coolly, tucking a forelock behind his ear.

Nita and Kit ducked out of the kitchen before the argument got any more heated, as it was threatening to do. Kit said, "That didn't seem so bad."

"Oh, they get worse. Dairine loses her temper and screams and Roshaun sits there and gets cooler and cooler, which just infuriates her more. They were going at it last night too." They enjoyed the afternoon sun and the walk to Tom and Carl's house. Nita thought seeing Annie and Monty might help Kit's mood as well. She knew he'd never really replace Ponch. Ponch was one of a kind and you can't really replace a pet anymore than a person, especially a wizard's pet. But maybe, he could find a dog tomorrow that could fill Ponch's shoes at least partly—metaphorically speaking of course.

They knocked on Tom and Carl's door and waited. They could hear muffled voices inside. "Annie! Monty!"

"No! Get back here blast you!"

At last the door was pulled open and Tom and Carl were each holding one dog in place. "Kit, Nita. Come in and shut the door. As you can see, the dogs are as anxious to see you as we are." No sooner had they shut the door than the men let go of the dogs and the dogs jumped all over Nita and Kit, licking them (Kit in particular).

After a moment, Nita followed Tom and Carl into the living room, greeting them warmly. Kit stayed in the entryway with the dogs for a while. A yappy little dog had joined the two sheepdogs and demanded attention as well.

Carl watched Kit and the dogs and spoke to Nita in a low voice, "He's still really missing Ponch, isn't he?"

"Yeah."

"Poor kid." He shook his head. He could remember hearing Nita and Kit explain that he'd never see Peach again. Sure, there was always the chance that he'd encounter the One's Champion again, but to him Peach would always be Peach, and she was gone forever now.

Tom got drinks for the four of them and eventually they all settled into the living room, Annie and Monty stayed by Kit and drooled on his knees, while the third dog kept trying to jump up onto the couch next to him. Nita couldn't decide whether he looked happy or sad about it. The dogs were making him think of Ponch.

"So what did you come to see us about? I doubt it was just to play with the dogs," Tom asked. "Have the two of you been alright since events calmed down after the Pullulus?"

Kit and Nita looked at each other. "Yeah," he said slowly. "That's actually what we wanted to talk to you about."

Nita looked quite evenly at the senior wizards. "We're bored."


	2. On the Lawn

**_In the Closet_**

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_Author's Note: _Hey, everybody! Thanks for your reviews. I'm trying to update as quickly as I can right now before my summer school classes start. I'm hoping things didn't get too mushy in this chapter—I still want to keep everybody in character, so let me know if I managed that.

Does anyone have access to _A Wizard Abroad_? I'm going back to college this weekend (where my copy is), but I'd like to get the update up before Sunday and I need some info for continuity purposes. I'm not going to post what information I need on here so I don't give too much away, but if you're online Friday, June 1st, and are interested in helping me get the information, message or review and I'll send you what I need. Thanks so much!

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_Disclaimer: The characters in question belong to Diane Duane. I own only the plot._

**Chapter 2: Talking on the Lawn**

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Tom and Carl looked at Nita and Kit for a minute, trying to gauge their state of mind. After a moment, Carl broke the silence. "You're bored?" 

"The Senior Wizards generally agreed that the older wizards ought to attempt to pick up any slack for a little while as you younger wizards recovered."

"And we understand and appreciate that. Really, we do," Kit said, scratching Monty behind his ear.

"But we're ready to get back out there, to feel useful again. To go back to slowing down the death of the Universe. That's what we signed up for."

Tom scratched his head. "You know we don't really have much impact as far assignments go. If you're the answer to a problem in the Universe, you'll be given that problem—regardless."

Nita sighed. "It's just frustrating. We want to get back out there again. We're sick of sitting on our heels for the last month. We're ready. If you could just possibly let some of the higher ups know that the younger wizards are getting restless?"

Carl shook his head. "You know it doesn't work like that."

"However, we can suggest some independent research ideas to you if any come our way," offered Tom.

"My independent research was Ponch," pointed out Kit.

"I haven't been that interested in the lucid dreaming lately. It's not really _there_ right now." She wasn't that interested in what her subconscious might tell her, and precognition and the like weren't so happy.

Carl took a swig of his Coke. "I'm trying to think of something that might serve as a good project for both of you. You want to work together, right?"

"Definitely" and "Of course" were uttered simultaneously. Kit and Nita glanced at each other. They had both responded without even thinking to consider.

Kit looked slightly embarrassed. "We've worked together since our Ordeal. Yeah, we've done a couple of individual assignments here and there but—"

"Generally speaking, we work better as a unit." Nita knew that if she was going in on a dangerous wizardry there was no other wizard she'd rather have at her back. Kit was there for her and she knew he always would be, just like she was always there for him. They could anticipate each other's moves before they happened and they were both willing to make whatever sacrifices they needed to…for each other, or the universe. They'd both lost a lot, but they'd both come through it so far.

"Neets and I trust each other with our lives. There's nobody else either of us would rather work with." Kit felt that just about summed it up. Oh, granted, they trusted other wizards too. Dairine could be trusted, and Roshaun. Of course Tom and Carl. And there were others. Darryl for one. Ronan too, come to think of it. He was just glad that things were settled between the two of them now. No struggles. No jealousy. No miscommunications. That had all been worked out of a month ago. He fully admitted to both himself and Ronan he was jealous. Jealous that Ronan had briefly stolen away his best friend—of course it was nothing more than that. Ronan had openly admitted that he had liked Nita, and yes, they'd kissed. But aside from the 3,000 miles wide ocean between them, there were other reasons it wouldn't work out. Ronan didn't elaborate on these reasons except to say that for all Nita's blushing, awkwardness, and flirting she hadn't quite felt the same way about him as he had about her. Any feelings that had been there were done and dealt with. That skirt thing earlier today was just his raging hormones acting up. He'd have to get them in check. He was a teenage boy after all. It was natural. It was perfectly natural for him to notice that his female best friend had developed quite a nice body. A little voice in the back of his head, his own voice, disagreed. _No, it's not just that. And if you want to go on lying to yourself…don't expect it not to interfere with you wizardry._ There was a pause._ And Ronan knows the truth too, even if you didn't say it. That's probably the _real_ reason he backed off. He knew—_

"Kit. Kit!" Nita tapped him on the shoulder rather more forcibly than necessary.

"Huh?"

Tom chuckled. "I don't know where you went off to just now but you haven't said anything for about five minutes."

He fought down a blush. "Sorry about that. Distracted for a minute."

Carl motioned for him to take a sip of his soda to help wake up a little. "It's perfectly alright. Do you have any ideas about what you'd like to research?"

"I was thinking we might do something on the moon's slight gravitational change and its effects on the tide? Nothing negative so far, but it could end up that way and it'd be good to know what's causing it."

"Or what about wizards and their pets?" asked Kit.

"Either one would be good. Just try to be careful, whatever you choose."

"And we'll let you know if we hear of anything interesting. You might want to see what some of your other wizard friends are up to and see if they've got any projects they could use help on," Carl suggested. "Isn't Dairine in the middle of something with Roshaun?"

Nita made a face. It wasn't that she'd didn't love her sister, she just didn't want to work with her. Working off-planet however sounded like it'd be great. Maybe she could pick up Dari's work on Jupiter's moon. The single-celled organisms still needed monitoring from time to time. "They weren't real interested in outside help. We offered."

"Darryl may have something, or Ronan."

"Or any number of the other wizards your age you met while fighting the Pullulus. Just keep an open mind."

Kit stood up. They didn't need any outsiders. "Thanks. We'll remember. Ready, Nita?"

"Yeah, sure. Thanks for the sodas. We'll let you know when we figure something out."

Tom and Carl walked them to the door.

"Stop by anytime."

They didn't talk as they walked back towards their homes. When they got to the place where they'd separate to go to their respective houses, Kit asked, "We're still going to the shelter tomorrow after school, right?"

"Yeah. I'll meet you at the gate after last period?"

"Sure thing."

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Nita jogged up to the house just as her dad pulled in the driveway. "You're home early."

Mr. Callahan laughed. "What? No hello? I closed up shop a little early today is all. It was a good morning, but a slow afternoon. Business will pick up in the next month or so with proms and things, so I thought I ought to enjoy an early night while I could. Dairine home?"

Nita shrugged and opened the front door. "She was when I left. She and Roshaun were arguing over the spell they're working on."

"So what else is new? They'll stop sooner or later. I think I'll make roast chicken tonight. Are you done with your homework yet?"

"Not yet. Kit and I went to see Tom and Carl for a while. I'll get it done." Nita stuck her head around the corner into the kitchen. Neither Dairine nor Roshaun was in sight. She walked over to the table and started glancing at the notes they'd left there. They seemed to be on the right track, but something seemed off-balance. Numerically the spell looked alright at a glance, but something about the spell's complexity struck her as strange. Before she could figure out exactly what it was, there was a grunt behind her.

"What are you doing?"

Nita looked up and, as expected, her sister was standing in front of her. Surprisingly enough, Roshaun wasn't. "Just looking at your notes. Are you guys stuck?"

"No. Just have to wait for him to realize that I'm right."

She snorted. It was of course perfectly in character for Dairine to have fallen for somebody just as stubborn as she was.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

Nita shook her head. "Nothing." She handed her sister's notes to her. "Where'd Roshaun go?"

Dairine shrugged nonchalantly as if she didn't care where he was. "Backyard, I think. Said something about wanting to see the sun." _And getting away from me._ She was tempted to ask Nita for some advice, but didn't think it would do any good. Not to mention, she wasn't that desperate yet. She could figure things out on her own.

"Well, I've got to go get some work done. Dad should be in here in a few minutes to start dinner. I think he went to change his clothes."

"He's home already?"

Nita nodded and went to get herself a glass of water. "Yeah. Took off early today."

Dairine sat down at the table and spread her notes out again. Frowning at them, she rested her chin on her arms. "I wonder if he was coming to check up on Roshaun and me."

Nita quirked an eyebrow at her younger sister. "You don't need checking up on, do you?"

Dari made a face. "No!"

"Alright. I'm going to get some work done. See you later." Nita left Dairine to ponder about both her spell notes and her boyfriend. Maybe she'd go back to cleaning her room. She didn't feel like homework yet.

Dairine stared glumly at the paper. There was no disagreement about there being a problem, or about what the problem was. The only disagreement was about how best to fix it. Dairine thought Roshaun was going about it entirely the wrong way. Going through Wellakh's temperamental sun was not the best way to fix the drought. They needed to go inside the planet to affect the outside; however it would be easier to get to the sun than to where they'd need to be in the planet.

Mr. Callahan came in, fairly happy, and took a whole chicken out of the fridge and began to pre-heat the oven. "How was your day, Dairine?"

"This spell is giving us some trouble, but we'll get it." She rubbed her temples.

He searched through the spice rack for something to put on the chicken. "What about school? You do have a life on this planet too. Even wizards have to make livings."

"Oh. School was fine. Turned my work in and all that." She had done all her work, but her head really hadn't been present at school today. Instead of taking notes, she was scrawling characters in the Speech, trying to sort out the spell. Once they'd fixed the drought on Wellakh—which really needed to happen _soon_—then she and Roshaun could go about reforming the government. They had already talked a little with his parents, but no announcements had been made yet.

"Where's Roshaun?"

"Outside. He'll be in soon. He wanted some fresh air. Actually, I think I'll go see if he wants to come back in." Dairine collected her notes into a clean stack and left them on the chair, going outside to see if she could talk some sense into the Sun-King. She had long ago realized that bullying was no use against this boy.

Roshaun stood in the middle of the yard. The sun shone down on him. His eyes were closed. Dairine found herself oddly transfixed, watching the light and the breeze catch his hair. Even in his floppy t-shirt and baggy pants, he still had the same bearing she was used to seeing him hold himself with. Still a vain, arrogant, stubborn, beautiful, and caring individual. She didn't say anything; she stood there, looking at him, trying to decide what exactly she wanted to say, and not saying.

"Dhairine. I know you're there. I can feel you."

She shook her head, trying to get out of what must have been a teen hormone induced daze. "How?"

"Like a storm. You usually feel like an approaching storm." He opened his eyes and looked at her, fighting a smile that was beginning to twitch at the corner of his face. He knew that in the past month he was smiling more than he had in years. He was beginning to feel hopeful about…everything. Or most things. He would not have to bear kingship alone; they would reform Wellakh's entire governmental structure. His people's attitude as a whole seemed to be improving, though the growing water shortage was testing tempers. Furthermore, he and Dhairine were making progress on the water problem. Slow progress; she refused to admit that his way of doing things would work better than the disaster she was attempting to peddle. Still, things were going well. And he had her. He was no longer working alone; no longer felt so alone, and that was probably the greatest reason to smile of all. Even so, "storm" was most certainly an accurate description of her most of time, but right now, that storm seemed to be abating and the only thing left was his Dhairine.

She started walking towards him again. "Roshaun, we've both had a little time to cool off. We have to get back to work on that spell."

He nodded, looking serious, and then he bent his head down and kissed her, using his arms to pull her closer to him. For her part there were no objections. Because it was Roshaun, she let her guards down. Once he was kissing her, she let herself get pulled in by him, putting both arms around him and his floppy t-shirt. She kissed him back fiercely. Images flashed between the two of them. Lips tugged at one another and, something fairly new, tongues slid into one another's mouths. It was with regret on both parties that they pulled their mouths away from one another ten minutes later and Dairine laid her head against his chest. Roshaun's chin rested on her head. He saw an old chair off in the corner of the yard and, with his arms still around Dhairine, went to it and sat, pulling her onto his lap. She let herself be pulled, and allowed herself to settle sideways onto her lap, head leaning against him. She was content. She knew this didn't solve anything and a little part of her knew they were only putting off the problem to be solved and she was angry with him for putting it off this way, however, the majority of her was quite content to sit there unmoving for as long as possible. Here, in her backyard, they were alone. No one was watching them or concerned about anything. They could just be.

Dairine tilted her head up and gave him a single kiss on the neck. He leaned down to kiss her again. After a few minutes of some very enjoyable kissing, they did stop and she sat up more on his lap.

"My dad's making dinner now, and I think we really ought to get back to work on that spell. Your people are running out of time. It's not critical yet, but it'll take some time for whatever solution we pick to take effect once we've set up the spell."

"I know. Dhairine, we need to look things over from the beginning again. As it stands now, we're holding two opposing ideas and we both insist we're right. The way things look now, that won't change, and we need it to. We need to do something. I think we should take a break until after dinner and try and look at it again with fresh minds."

Dairine decided that sounded fair enough. There were plenty of things they could do in the meantime before dinner. "We have to find something that works. And we will. If anyone can, we can."

"Of course we will." They sat in silence for a few more minutes before he asked her to stand up and turn around and sit again so that most of her weight was on his other knee.

After she'd settled herself down comfortably again, she kissed him until they heard the sound of displaced air as someone appeared in the backyard via wizardry.

Roshaun and Dairine looked at their guest with surprise. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Their guest looked around. In an Irish accent, their guest asked, pretending to be offended, "What? I'm not allowed to visit?"

There was another pop of displaced air as a second individual arrived.


	3. Irish Guests

_**In the Closet**_

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_Disclaimer: The characters in question belong to Diane Duane. I own only the plot._

_Author's Note: _I made a little mistake at the end of last chapter, I'll explain it at the end of this one. I've been trying to respond to all the reviews; if you don't want me to send you messages back, mention it in your next review and I'll try to keep a list of who doesn't need their in-box clogged with mail from me. This is a pretty long chapter I think. I would have been done a while ago, but I had a lot of problems figuring out how I was ending the chapter and where to end it. Thanks to Kat Solo for giving me the info I needed.

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**Chapter 3: Irish Guests**

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Annie chuckled at Roshaun and Dairine and headed into the house. The second visitor had said nothing yet, and didn't look likely to say anything. It didn't take him long to realize what Roshaun and Dairine had been doing and decide he'd rather be inside with Annie and anyone who wasn't sucking face.

Annie found herself directly in the kitchen. She leaned casually against the counter next to the oven and asked, "Ed, could I get a cup of tea?"

Her brother, head in the fridge as he took out various ingredients to make a salad, tried to stand up too quickly and hit his head on the freezer above him. He bit off a swear word and spun around. "Annie?" He hadn't seen his sister in years.

She shrugged at him. "Hello, little brother. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"What are you doing here?" His mind was reeling. There were only two explanations. Either she had bought a ticket and hopped on a plane from Ireland and forgotten to mention she was coming, or…he remembered Tom's voice. Wizardry came from his side of the family. He stared at his sister. Had Nita known this and never told him? Why had Annie never told him? _Because, until a couple of years ago, you would have said she was crazy if she told you something like this_.

"I don't even get a 'hello'?" She hugged her brother. "I'm sorry I didn't give you any notice, and I'm sorry I never made it back for the funeral. I meant to be here, but I was off planet, and by the time I'd realized I missed it, it seemed too awkward to come by, especially since you didn't know about me…" She trailed off.

"Hello, and I'm glad to see you, but sit down. What are you doing here?" The "sit down" was more for his own benefit than hers; he felt like he needed to sit for a minute and get grasp on the fact that his big sister was standing in his kitchen when she ought to be 3000 some odd miles away. Sitting down at the table he caught sight of the young man already seated there. When had he arrived? He felt as though he ought to know him and couldn't quite place him. Definitely familiar though.

Annie sat down next to the boy and nudged him. "Introduce yourself." That boy was always so rude.

Looking as though he had clearly suffered too much already and introducing himself was really an imposition on his time, he stuck out a hand for Mr. Callahan to shake. "Ronan Nolan. We've met before, Mr. Callahan."

Ed nodded, running his fingers through his hair after the handshake. "I remember. You were the one they nursed back to health in Dairine's room." He turned his attention back to his sister. "Annie, what brings you all this way out here?"

Annie looked away for a moment. "That's a good question. Wanting to see my younger brother isn't cause enough?"

He couldn't help laughing. "Annie, you've wizarded, or spelled, or _whatever_ yourself across an ocean to see me. I've a right to be _little_ curious."

"Actually, as much as I've missed you, I didn't come back here to see you. Not specifically anyway. I—we—came for Nita and Kit."

"They're in school," Ed said, on the verge of snapping. Something was going on with enough seriousness that his sister and this young man had come across an ocean to talk to Nita and Kit rather than message or pick up the phone or drop an email. He couldn't sit here and let his sister whisk them away. They needed to go to school. There was only a month left. They couldn't miss anymore.

"I know, I know. They'll be out in about a month, right? The planning should be done by then."

Ed closed his eyes and counted to ten. This woman was making very little sense at this moment. "Yes, they've got about a month left. They have final exams left, and end of the term projects and papers and things due. And they've already missed two weeks this year."

Annie nodded. "I know, I read all about it."

He gave her a quizzical look.

"Wizards can get summaries of other wizards' work through the manual Nita has showed you. She did show you, right? I can't imagine you'd believe her if you hadn't seen it."

Ed looked quite levelly at his sister. "It took more than a book to convince Betsy and me, but yes, she showed us." He remembered quite clearly watching Kit levitate and not believing it, and then seeing his daughter walk on water. And then the moon! To this day that was one of the most breathtaking sights he'd ever seen.

"I know she's missed a lot of school this year, but there's a team forming and we'd like she and Kit to be on it." She paused and was almost hesitant before continuing. "Dairine too, if we can manage her, but things don't look as though that will work out. It's really a shame, she'd enjoy the project."

Ed tried to keep himself in check. "Project? Team? You're making this sound like a game."

"It's not a game, Ed, but don't get me wrong, wizardry _can_ be fun."

There was silence, broken by the ringing of the buzzer that said his roast chicken was done. He turned the oven off, found his potholders, and took the chicken out of the oven and placed it on the stove.

"You want to take Nita away, don't you?" he asked quietly.

Annie nodded. "If she's interested, yes. Hopefully not until after school is over for the year. It would most likely only be for a few weeks, and she'd enjoy it."

Ed shook his head and got out the ready made salad he'd been attempting to grab when his sister had appeared. "So both my girls are going to be whisked away?"

Ronan looked curiously at Mr. Callahan. "Where's Dairine being 'whisked' to?" he asked, speaking for the first time since his introduction.

The female wizard looked curiously over at Ronan. "You didn't know?"

Ed began chopping up the head of lettuce, hoping it might relieve some tension. "She hasn't said it yet, but I'm fairly certain she's going to want to go spend her summer on that planet with that boy who's here. She says they've got business to take care of and that she can't really accomplish it here. She was there this weekend and only came back last night, was there two weeks ago, and there a month before that."

Ronan gave a low whistle. "That's a lot of energy used in transit."

Dairine coughed, making her presence, as well as Roshaun's known to the room at large. "We're trying to work on getting a world-gate of the sort used for the exchange program set up, but we're not sure if They'll allow that sort of energy allowance. We're planning to talk to my area Seniors tomorrow afternoon."

Annie looked at her niece, standing there with the tall, slender young man's arm around her shoulders. The young man matched Ronan's description of the haughty prince he and the others had been working with. "And you are…?"

He took a deep breath. "Roshaun ke Nelaid am Se—"

Dairine cut him off. "What he was about to take ten minutes to tell you is that he's the king of Wellakh…and my boyfriend."

"We are in the middle of two very important projects on Wellakh, neither of which we can fully accomplish from here, and both of which need to be completed with as much speed as possible," Roshaun explained, sending an irritated glance at Dairine for cutting him off.

Nita came into the kitchen then, "I was wondering what's for d—Aunt Annie!" She went up and hugged her silver haired aunt. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" She looked up and saw her father. "Dad, I guess you know now…"

"Yes, I've gathered as much from the conversation," he said, dryly. "Would you get the plates?"

Nita went to get the plates, wondering what had brought her aunt here out of Ireland. And Ronan. What was _he_ doing here? It must be business. She took out seven plates. If something was going on, Kit would want to know about it. _Kit? _She waited a few seconds. _Kit!_

_Ow, not so loud, Neets. What's up? I was just getting ready to sit down to dinner. _He paused._ You sound impatient. _He finished setting the place settings at his own table.

_Do you want to come over here for dinner instead? We haven't started yet._ She placed the plates around the table, and went back for silverware.

Kit was puzzled. _Any particular reason?_

_You remember my Aunt Annie?_

_Yeah. Of course I do._

Nita glanced at Annie and Ronan. _She's here. She and Ronan are both here. I'm not sure why, yet, but I intend to find out._

_Both of them? With no warning?_

_None_, she replied firmly.

_Give me five minutes to talk to Mama. I'm coming through the backyard; this sounds big. _With that, he dissolved the mind connection quickly and went off to talk to his mother.

As Nita put knives, forks, and spoons at each place setting, she stopped at Ronan's (coming to it last), and tapped him on the shoulder. "No hello?"

He gave a sort of soft snort, that might have been laughter, and even a half smile. "Hello, Nita." He looked around the room and noted the extra place setting. "Kit coming?"

"Yeah. I just invited him. I assume you both wouldn't have come all this way out here if you didn't have something important to say?"

Dairine and Roshaun settled themselves at the corner of the table where their notes from earlier were still stacked and they began to leaf threw them.

Ronan's reply was sarcastic. "Oh no, we just came by to say hello, we're leaving right after dinner."

Nita snorted and rolled her eyes, taking a seat next to him. "So, Aunt Annie, what brought you in?"

Annie got up to carry the salad her brother had just finished over to the table while he got the chicken. "I think we should wait a few minutes for Kit. If he's coming, it'd really be best if I told you all together."

"I'm here," Kit said, striding into the room quickly. "What'd I miss?" He plopped himself down in the seat next to Nita's, acknowledging Ronan with a nod and smiling at Annie. He said a quick hello to Mr. Callahan and made a gagging face at Roshaun and Dairine, going over their notes together.

Nita grinned. "Nothing yet." She remembered her manners a little belatedly. "What would everybody like to drink?" She stood up, and Kit stood with her, and they brought various drinks to the table as they were called for.

Finally, when everyone was settled with drinks in front of them and chicken and salad on their plates, Kit asked the question that was on most of their minds. He glanced at Mr. Callahan, who hadn't spoken since he came in, other than his greeting. "So what exactly brought you here?"

Annie looked at Ronan. "It was your idea to come, would you like to explain?"

Ronan took a sip of his water and put down his fork. "Right now, there's a team assembling for a fairly major project off-planet. It's still local, but we're trying to put together a decent sized group to investigate some life on Mars." He paused, waiting for the effect of his words. No one said anything, so he continued. "We're not sure how developed this life may or may not be, but we're looking at a few different options for this project. There haven't been any decisions as to where we need to base our project. Possibly here on Earth, possibly the moon, or maybe on Mars itself, though we won't want to spend the night there until we really know the situation."

"How advanced is the life you're talking about?" asked Dairine. She'd been dealing with the life on Jupiter's moon on her own. What could be going on on Mars that they'd need a team for?

"We aren't sure yet. We're getting mixed signals. At times we think they're little more than organisms with just a few cells a piece, at other times, we're wondering if there's more lurking below the surface. We sent a man out and he hasn't been back or sent any information back to the rest of us since his arrival, which we know was successful. We're thinking of planning for the next month or so, gathering teams, and then starting," he signified the end of his explanation by beginning to eat again.

Kit tried not to act overexcited. "Mars?"

Ronan nodded calmly.

Nita looked curiously at her aunt. There seemed to be an important factor Ronan wasn't explaining. "And why us? There are a lot of wizards out there. Do we get dibs on this because we're family?"

Annie smiled, knowing she was teasing Nita. "That's not strictly true. Kit's not family."

Nita began to blush. Yes, in many ways Kit was clearly _not_ family; if he were she wouldn't be having the sorts of thoughts about him that she did.

Dairine inserted herself into what might otherwise have been an awkward and somewhat amusing place. She'd rather have her aunt get on with the explanation than have Nita and Kit squirm in discomfort. "I consider him like a brother, Aunt Annie. So why do you want us for this project?"

"Dairine, as much as we'd like to involve you, you seem to have your work cut out for you this summer. The same goes for you, Roshaun. However, I've heard Kit and Nita have been slacking off lately…"

"We have_ not_." Then he looked over at Annie directly. "You've been talking to Tom and Carl, haven't you?"

"Just before coming over. We already had you in mind actually when we spoke with them. The biggest reason we thought of you actually is because you both have a fair amount of experience working off planet. You're well acquainted not only with the basic atmosphere bubble spells and the like, but you're also used to dealing with life on other planets."

Ed broke in before his sister could list any other reasons why his daughter should go gallivanting off to Mars with her and other wizards. "And just how long are you planning on taking my daughter away from me?"

"I'm not sure, Ed. The assignment will take us as long as it takes. She'll be able to check in with you. And if Dairine manages to get that world-gate approved, Dairine can be home as often as you'd like her."

This idea alarmed Dairine slightly. She liked Wellakh. Granted, she wanted to be able to come home easily if she was needed, but she wanted to be on Wellakh with Roshaun, fixing all its problems. She sensed some uneasiness coming from Roshaun; he thought he would have her with him all summer. He didn't like it when things didn't go his way.

"How necessary is it for both of you to go away this summer?" he asked, directing his question at both daughters and no one else.

"Daddy, I don't feel as if I've been doing my part lately. After that last mess, They gave us a little break, but I need to know I'm doing my part. If there's something going on that's made us lose a wizard, then we have a serious problem and we need to do something about it as soon as possible."

Dairine added, not wanting to be stuck at home, "Wellakh's water shortage is getting worse and worse. We need to get the drought taken care of as soon as possible. Half the planet is charred and we need to keep water in the good half to keep people from dying. And the government," she looked at Roshaun, who essentially _was_ the government, "is a mess. If we don't do something, Roshaun may be the next in an on and off line of assassinated kings. There's no heir. The planet would fall into unrest, and probably mob or military rule. There's no knowing what could result from the chaos. The government needs to be completely reorganized and with the amount of work involved, we'll be lucky to make a decent start working all summer. It's not something I can do going back and forward every other weekend."

He sighed. "So, that's it? My daughters are leaving."

Nita felt a pang for her father. He'd be stuck in the house, all alone while they went off on business all summer. All the same, the excitement of finding life on Mars was getting the better of her. "It's not like we're leaving yet, Daddy. And we may not even be gone that long. We've got a lot of details to work out. Right, Aunt Annie?"

"That's right," Annie said, taking a sip of her tea. "Nothing's been finalized yet. That's what the next month is about."

It was with uneasy silence, breached by small talk, that they finished dinner. Nita and Kit volunteered to do the dishes, not wanting to be sitting around if there was any sort of explosion. Dairine and Roshaun went upstairs to her room to look at their spell again with fresh eyes. Ronan sat uneasily at the table after having handed his plate and silverware to Kit.

Ed led his sister into the living room, grabbing the phone, probably to call Tom and Carl.

Ronan looked around the kitchen.

"So how've you been?" asked Kit.

"Not bad. It's been a little strange being the only one inside my head again, but good. Much quieter now."

"Things have calmed down then?" asked Nita, handing a plate to Kit to dry.

"It's Ireland. Things never really 'calm down.' I was working with a group trying to find a way to help clear up the overlay problem before this Mars assignment came up. The very nature of Ireland probably wouldn't really allow for a cure, but cleaning up the symptoms for a while couldn't hurt." He shook his head. "We weren't getting very far with it." He grimaced for a moment. "Johnny sends his best to both of you."

Nita nodded. That was one of several annoyances with working in Ireland, gorgeous though it was. The overlays were the first big problem. The next was not being able to just act on wizardry, but having to meet and discuss. And Ronan. That was one annoyance that wasn't as much of an annoyance anymore. He was still Ronan, and he'd always be Ronan, but he wasn't quite so disagreeable these days. Even he and Kit seemed to more or less get along now. She glanced at Kit next to her and Ronan behind her. Neither of them had told her what happened between them, but something had and they didn't look likely to explain it to _her_ anytime soon. Stupid boys. Whatever it was had seemed to fix things between them though. "How's Shaun doing?"

"Johnny's not doing that well. The wizard who went to Mars and never came back was his nephew." Ronan was silent for a moment. "He was against our coming to get you or involving you in this Mars project, actually."

"Why? We can handle this just as well as you, or anyone else," Kit told him, a touch defensively as he almost dropped the plate Nita handed him to dry.

Ronan put his hands up in a "Don't ask me" gesture and shrugged. "Annie and I know that. You've got interplanetary experience on your side, a good deal of it considering your age. Johnny knows it too. He's familiar with your background the last few years, and Annie and I agreed that it was a good idea. He was the one who first thought of bringing you two into the project, but after what happened to his nephew, he started having second thoughts. He doesn't want kids getting hurt."

Nita flushed, about ready to toss the mug in her hand at his head. She sputtered. "Kids? And what's that make you? A grandpa?"

"His words, not mine. He's fairly strongly against me being a part of it too. He'd love to forget the whole thing, but he knows he can't. It took plenty of convincing to get him to let me stay on the project, and more arguing on the part of Annie and some others and I to get him to agree to let us come speak with you even." He lowered his voice. "He also told us not to pursue Dairine too actively." He returned his voice to normal pitch. "She's younger and maybe even more hot tempered than you are." He gave Nita a look.

Nita could feel the look rather than see it and she turned around. If Kit had given her that look, she probably would have smacked or punched him, but Ronan was _not_ Kit, so she settled for as steely a glare as she could manage. She could feel Kit next to her, doing his best not to laugh. She swatted him on the arm and hoped it smarted a little.

"We're both really relieved to see that Dairine's otherwise occupied. Interplanetary travels and studies seem to be Dairine's specialty, but something isn't sitting right on this trip, which is why, aside from were world aspects—like school—we're going slow and cautious with this. You need to know _that_ before you decide if you're in or not." Ronan's voice was serious and he looked steadily at Kit and Nita while he spoke his final sentence.

Kit hung the dish towel on its hook and settled himself at the table. Nita joined him. "I'm in."

"Kit, _don't_ jump into this. Read whatever your manual will tell you about it. Get your seniors to open up extra access if possible or necessary." Ronan's voice was sharp. "You may only want to be involved for the planning phase; no one would hold it against you if you decided not to make the trip."

Nita leaned back in her chair, rocking on two legs. "Ronan, what's the deal? What is going on out there? Wizards have never hesitated on a little local sighting seeing—"

"Except maybe in Ireland," Kit said, thinking of Ronan's never having been to the moon until Nita took him.

Nita jobbed him with her elbow. _Now is _not _the time for wisecracks, Kit_. "What I was saying is that I'm sure plenty of us have traveled there. Why is it so dangerous _now_?"

"I don't know." Ronan was finally beginning to sound frustrated. "The only one I know is missing is Shaun's nephew, but I'm sure there are others."

Kit was doing some quick calculations in his head. "We could go, just to have a look around…"

"I don't think that's a good idea Kit. We can't go rushing into this; people have probably already tried—and failed—or they would be so overprotective about the whole situation," Nita reasoned.

Ronan nodded. "That was my thought." He stood up. "I'm going to check on Dairine and make sure she doesn't find some way to come." Maybe he could arrange something with Roshaun.

"Ronan, I'm all for keeping Dairine out of this; I don't want to see her get hurt, but why is she singled out in all of this?"

That thought had been troubling Nita too and she looked to Ronan for an answer to Kit's question.

"I don't know. I don't have all or even _most_ of the answers yet. All I can say is that I'm glad she's doing something else right now. The Powers around things for a reason. Maybe she'll be on the back up force that pulls _our_ arses out of the fire. Or maybe something else entirely will come up. At any rate, Somebody passed the message on to keep her out. I got it from Johnny. I don't know where he got it, but I don't think he came up with it himself. I'm going upstairs to check on the two of them and see if I can offer any help."

"Good luck, they won't take it."

"Not from you maybe, but I'm neither the over protective big sister, nor the over protective big sister's best friend." He ducked out of the kitchen quickly and into the living room as unobtrusively as possible. The four adults were clearly engrossed in a conversation that looked as though it might become fairly heated very shortly. That in mind, he continued up the stairs and knocked on Dairine's door.

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_Author's Note:_ And I'm sure you've all figured out my mistake. I wanted to say "Irish accent" to throw people off—first assumption was usually Ronan, but I meant it to be Annie. I goofed because of course Annie doesn't have an Irish accent; she's American. I'll go back and edit that in the last chapter. I hope you enjoyed the latest installment. 


	4. Without Rest

_**In the Closet**_

_Author's Note:_There are several line breaks in this chapter for various reasons. Section II which delayed the updating of this chapter and which I skipped over and then went back to, might be expanded next chapter, or done as a flashback later depending on how this goes. I'm really sorry I keep going so long between updates. I haven't been updating anything lately. I think this story was the last one I updated—haven't had a great deal of interest in updating my Harry Potter stories after that last book came out. shakes head Feel free to message me if you want to talk about Potter, Young Wizards, Artemis Fowl, Tolkien, etc. Anyway, I like most of this chapter, I may have spelt one name wrong, but I'm not positive and don't have the book with me at the moment to look it up. The chapter is at least of a decent length, mostly handwritten on the plane home after my laptop died. I hope you enjoy, and…as always, please leave a comment so I know how I'm doing or if I'm writing inconsistencies or anything.

Enjoy!

_Disclaimer: The characters in question belong to Diane Duane. I own only the plot._

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**Chapter 4: Without Rest**

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Ronan left Dairine's room yawning. He really needed to be getting back home. He didn't want to think about how late it really was. Even so, he could still grab a few hours of sleep before he had to be up in the morning. He knocked on Nita's door to say goodbye. As much planning as possible would have to be done without face to face contact on the part of those long distances apart; after all, traveling was expensive and energy wasn't just lying around.

A voice called, "Come in."

Ronan opened the door. Kit and Nita were lying on her bed. Nita lay on her side, facing Kit, and he lay on his back, hands behind his head, eyes closed.

"Hey, Ronan. Crashing here?" asked Kit, cracking an eye open.

"You know you're welcome to. We'll find a place," Nita told him. They could always dig up a sleeping bag for the floor or send him home to sleep on Kit's couch; Kit's parents would understand. Probably anyway.

Ronan shook his head. "Thanks for the offer but I have to get back tonight or I'll be missed in the morning."

"Come back anytime. I'll visit my Seniors tomorrow if I can't access everything I need to tonight in my manual."

Ronan nodded approvingly. Something wasn't sitting right about this assignment and none of them should jump into it before realizing what they were getting into.

"Kit, you should probably go too, before your mom starts to worry," Nita said, nudging him.

"Nng." He groaned and reluctantly rolled over and got to his feet. Nita started to get up to see him out.

Kit waved her down, "Don't bother. I'm only walking as far as the backyard and I'll be by before school tomorrow." Even so, he leaned back over the bed and hugged her goodbye.

Ronan, still leaning against the door frame, nodded to Kit as he departed and head down the stairs.

Nita pulled herself into a seated position and then leaned over the bed, rummaging around for her backpack as she started to shove her books inside. She might as well have one less thing to do in the morning when she wakes up. As she finished packing up, she was beginning to feel awkward. He still stood in the doorway, unspeaking, unmoving. "Did you want to say something else?" she finally asked.

He almost shook his head—she could feel it without even looking directly at him—and then he hesitated. "Yes."

She waited, settling back on her bed. This hesitation was uncharacteristic of him. It was making her nervous. That was ridiculous. Her friend and fellow wizard wanted to say something to her. What could she have to be nervous about? She almost laughed—was he going to tell her this was a life and death mission? What else was new? Life _was_ their mission, and with Life comes Death. The words echoed in her head, _bound irrevocably to the worlds._ She crossed her arms and caught his eyes, "Well, are you going to spill or not?"

He bristled a little. He'd been trying to figure out the best way to say what he wanted to say. It wasn't as though he were afraid of her or anything—no need to be—but he was familiar enough with her temper to know that it was best to be avoided if possible. He could still remember her turning him—to quote Johnny—"into a soggy beer mat" not long after they met. He might as well say it and have done with so he could go home; his eyes were beginning to sting a little with the need for sleep. "Be careful, Nita, or it's going to affect your wizardry. His too. You can only deceive yourself for so long, and deceit is dangerous to play with in our Business. Goodnight, Miss Yank." With a nod, he turned heel and walked down the stairs, leaving her with those thoughts before she could argue.

Nita sputtered, about to demand he explain himself. She thought about following him, but he'd probably be halfway through vanishing from the backyard by now. She sighed, left alone to unravel his parting words. She knew the message wasn't buried deep and it wasn't hard to guess who "he" was. As she began to consider the message she groaned, suddenly remembering that she hadn't been done with her Calculus homework when all this started at dinner. She hauled her backpack up to her to get some work done and think about what Ronan had said. _It's going to affect your wizardry…_

* * *

Kit ran into Roshaun in the kitchen, helping himself to something from the fridge. "When'd you get down here?"

"A few minutes ago. Are you departing?"

Kit nodded. "Yeah. It's late and I've got classes in the morning. I've got to get home before my parents realize how long I've been gone." He looked at the ham in Roshaun's hands. _That_ would make a very good sandwich. He had time for a snack. He navigated the kitchen with ease, grabbing knives, bread, plates, mayonnaise, and cheese from the fridge. He set them on the counter and took the ham from Roshaun.

Roshaun, used to having food prepared for him backed away and sat down at the table. He tucked a long forelock behind his ear and rubbed his temples. It had been a trying day and things weren't promising to improve by any great leaps and bounds anytime soon.

Spreading the mayo over two slices of bread, Kit asked, "Any news on your spell?" He wondered if Ronan had been any help whatsoever to the quarreling lovebirds. The thought made him want to snicker a little.

"Don't ask."

"That bad?"

"We seem to be at an impasse. Finally she sent me out of the room and told me she needed to do some work for some teacher. That can't possible be more important…"

He patted Roshaun on the shoulder has he handed him his sandwich. "She's got to keep up with this world too you know."

Roshaun actually looked tired. "I know. It just makes the situation all the more difficult, and—"

"Goodnight." Ronan said, passing through the kitchen.

"G'night, Nolan. Want a snack?" Kit gestured at the ingredients he hadn't bothered to put away yet.

Ronan hesitated. A good sandwich might be just the thing to make sure he was alert enough for his trip back. He looked at Kit and Roshaun…he wanted to laugh and wondered if either of them really knew what getting involved with the Callahan girls meant. He decided to stay. What was a little while longer when it was already this late.

* * *

Ed Callahan wracked his brain, trying to come up with something, anything, he could do. There didn't seem to be any sort of way around this. Nothing at all that he could possibly do. His daughters were strong minded individuals, and, while he was still their father and still had the power to ground them or tell them to clean their rooms, they had both made a very important decision completely free of he and Betsy a long time ago, and it was a decision they were not going to change their minds on any time soon.

Betsy.

He rubbed his temples, wishing for at least the hundredth time that night that she were here with him. Somehow she'd know what to do or say, or she'd at least sit here all summer and worry with him and tell him that she was sure the girls would be alright.

Well, that wouldn't be happening anytime soon. He stared at his alarm clock, knowing he ought to go to sleep. Maybe he'd go have some coffee or something. He exited his room, making sure to pass through the living room and make sure Roshaun was asleep on the couch. He was. He sprawled across the couch, blanket half-covering him, a strange nightcap on his head. Ed nodded himself; at least one thing was right. There was a good bit of distance between this boy and his younger daughter. For now at least. In the kitchen he poured himself a cup of coffee from the machine he'd never remembered to empty earlier that day.

"Daddy, what are you still doing up?"

Her father was staring out the kitchen window into the night, a cold cup of coffee in his hand. "Couldn't sleep." He looked at his younger daughter, hair sleep tousled, wearing a Star Wars nightshirt Betty found her three years ago, eyes red. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

She yawned and went to the fridget, taking out the milk. "Working."

He frowned. "Spell can't wait 'til you get back from school tomorrow?" The coffee mug chinked against the tile counter as he set it down.

Dairine grabbed a glass from the cupboard and poured herself the milk. "English. Essay on the use of magic/fantasy/myth in writing either literally or symbolically."

Ed watched his daughter put the gallon container away, recalling a time that didn't feel so long ago when she couldn't have lifted it, or reach the top of the counter. He mentally shook away the thought. "Is it finished?"

"Yeah, Spot's checking it for grammar as best he can. I'll print in the morning."

He sighed. "Do you have to go back this weekend?"

She looked at him. More gray along the temple than she remembered.Deeper lines on what used to be a tight face. The bags under his eyes told Dairine this wasn't the first night he wasn't sleeping well. "If we have something that might work, I have to go. They are running out of water. Roshaun's kingship still only hangs by a tenuous thread. Unfortunately, that's a problem that needs a functional, long-term solution…but for the present the important thing is maintain order, getting water to the people, and not letting him get assassinated."

"Oh, he isn't that hard to get along with…" he tried to joke. Roshaun seemed to be trying to behave at any rate.

Dairine took a sip of her milk. "The political situation isn't like here. In 200 plus years, two presidents have been assassinated; Wellakh's track record isn't so good."

"Is that the life, the atmosphere you want to be a part of?" Stay here where it's safe…

"I already am. I'm apart of trying to fix it."

"I suppose Mr. Long-Haired, Snub-Nosed, Sun-King saved our world, and you've got to return the favor." He yawned.

Dairine laughed, shaking her head and puttering her empty glass in the sink. "Dad…" She tried to figure out how to phrase it. "It's not a one for one pay system with wizards. It's hard to keep track. I'm not doing this because of what he did here or on the moon. I'm doing this because it's what I need to do. The right thing." She hugged him as she started out of the room. "Good night, Daddy."

He hugged her back, tight. "Goodnight, sweetheart." He watched her leave, drained his coffee cup, and knew, no matter how much worrying they might cause him, his girls were caring, compassionate individuals. He couldn't be prouder. He yawned. Maybe he could sleep for a few hours now.

* * *

"Kit?" The word was whispered in the dark. She held still, listening.

Everything seemed still.

_Neets?_

She smiled sleepily. _Hello, Kit_. She could sense him now, several blocks away, sitting up in bed.

He felt like smacking himself. She'd been asleep. It _was_ late. He blushed. _It's nothing. I'll see you before school._ Why'd he even try mind-contact at this time of night? Good one, Rodriguez.

She sat up in her own bed. Kit was hesitating, but something had to be up if he was "calling" at this time of night. _Wait. What's up? And don't say "nothing."_

He let out a breath. _Can I come over?_

_Yeah, you know that. When?_

_Now._

_I'll meet you by the back door._ Nita wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and made her way carefully down the familiar steps and slipped into the kitchen. By the time she turned on the light and made her way to the back door, Kit was walking in, apparently having talked his way in to the lock. He had most certainly meant it when he said "now."

He took a seat at the table and she joined him. "Mars…" He shook his head.

"What?" She jabbed him in the ribs playfully. "Is it so unbelievable that They want to send us to Mars?"

He thought about his answer for a few seconds. "It's the level of alarm around this. Johnny O'Driscoll has seen us in action and knows what we've done…and he doesn't want us to go. Particularly doesn't want Dairine to go and she's got the most experience with aliens I think. And she's youngest. And they've suspended Mars-jumps. You can't get closer than our moon right now."

She gave him a questioning look, eyebrow raised.

"No, I didn't try to make the jump." He paused and looked at her. "I thought about it though. I've been all over the manual. That's how I found out. We need authorization from Tom and Carl. This is locked up pretty tight, Neets. Serious Business."

She put a hand on his arm, trying to figure out what he needed her to tell him, what words she needed to hear herself say for her own comfort. It wasn't exactly her strongest attribute. She usually stuck her foot in her mouth. "Kit, it's always been like this for us, hasn't it? They give us a something to do, we get in, wonder what in the One's name we've gotten ourselves into, try, panic, try again, and somehow pull through." She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye; somehow during her little speech, her gaze had fallen to the table. "Kit, you don't have to do this."

He shook his head once fiercely, mouth set, and once instantly Nita knew she'd once again said the wrong thing, as usually. "_Partners_."

"Kit,_we_ don't have to do this." She smiled grimly. "I'm still trying to figure out what we're up against. Is it just me, or do we always get more worked up when we work with the Irish?"

He did laugh a little at that. "Maybe we're just not team players." He tried a lighter note. "I got really wrapped up in it. When the manual didn't have anything left to tell me—about this anyway—I went down to the computer and started running web searches. Martians. Mars. Life on Mars." He laughed and shook his head, grinning. He'd eventually given up on the searches and tried to go to bed. "There are some crazy theories out there."

"Crazier than fighting a world of spider-things, having a Christmas tree alien as a house-guest, and having a dog that creates universes?" She laughed; it felt good, natural.

He chuckled. "Well, maybe. Maybe not." He winced a little at the reference to Ponch, he missed him… "You still have time to come with me to the shelter this week, right?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course I do. No rush to save the world tonight. After school tomorrow, we'll go by the shelter to see if there's anyone you could live with sleeping at the end of your bed for the next decade or so. Then we can stop by Tom and Carl's for authorization; no need to commit before we read the fine print."

He nodded, remembering Peach's advice and feeling as though it was a lifetime ago. Failing to listen had nearly cost Neets her life. If it weren't for Ed…He promptly closed that line of thought. He didn't want to dwell on it.

"You want a snack? Looking a little pale."

Pale…Pale Slayer. He shook his head and stood up. "No. But I could use some fresh air. I should be getting back."

Nita laughed, following him outside. "Oh, yes, because your parents perform 3 a.m. bed checks?"

"Mostly I don't want to fall asleep in Physics tomorrow."

Nita put her palm to Liseud's bark in greeting.

_Dai, cousin_.

_Dai stiho_, she replied. She let herself turn, back against the tree. She slowly sunk to the ground, knees pulled up to her chin.

Kit glanced from the open space in the yard used for transport spells to the tree. _Dai_. He joined Nita on theground and she offered half the blanket to him.

The stars twinkled amongst Liseud's new green leaves. _Troubled, young ones?_

Nita breathed in deeply, inhaling the fresh green scent of her backyard. The grasses was damp, and the she could feel it through the blanket._Liseud, what can you tell us about those? The stars. The planets?_

* * *

The sky was just starting to lighten when, stiff, and slightly chilly, Nita and Kit stood, yawning.

"Can you make it back? Or do you want a jacket and shoes for the walk?" There'd be no sense in him transporting himself if he might not get it right.

Kit shook his head as he felt the chill, stepping out from under Nita's blanket. "I can make it. I think I'll and straight in bed though so idon't have to talk to any more locks or accidentally trip over anything."

"Just don't' forget about the—"

"The air. I know. Last thing I need is my parents thinking they heard a gun and wondering why I'm wet and cold and where I've been." He wished Liseud goodnight and gave Nita a hug. "I'll see you in a few hours. Don't oversleep."

"Wouldn't want to miss the exciting world of physics, now, would we?"

She watched him perform the transit spell, felt the silence thicken, pre-dawn world listening in close, and then he was gone. She toddled back to the Liseud. "Thank you." With a brief hug to the Rowan, she went back inside, locked the door, turned off the kitchen light, and changed into dry pajamas, leaving the wet ones in a heap with the wet blanket somewhere in the vicinity of the hamper. Just after four. Peachy. Three and a half hours of rest at a stretch.

She closed her eyes.


	5. In a Bind

_**In the Closet**_

_Author's Note:_ After a very long wait (granted not as long as some fics have been waiting), there's another chapter, though I'm not sure if anyone is still reading this anymore. At different points in time, this chapter was a struggle to write—I'd figure out one section only to not know what the next section was even supposed to be. I'm pretty content with how it turned out. It's of decent length, but not enough for as long as you've been waiting I'm sure. At 6 in the morning after having not slept, I received a review from someone on Fortress of Shadows—which I haven't worked on in three years. I started looking at it again and got the crazy urge to write. Fortress of Shadows was 2 computers ago; somewhere I have the beginnings of the next chapter, but I have to find it. So I started looking at other stories and by 7:30 this morning, this chapter was done and I let myself fall asleep. Now, here it is from me to you. Let me know if I've lost my touch or not after all this time, please? Reviews let me know whether or not I'm doing what I want—making people happy with my writing. Cheers.

_Disclaimer: The characters in question belong to Diane Duane. I own only the plot._

_

* * *

_**Chapter 5: In a Bind

* * *

  
**

Nita's eyes were still closed when she realized she wasn't alone in the room. She could hear the click of fingers on a keyboard. She cracked an eye open and stared at her alarm. It wasn't even set to go off for another seven minutes and she had intended to press snooze at least a couple of times. She rolled over and, yawning, let her eyes adjust to the morning light, several hours brighter than the pre-dawn glow she'd gone to sleep in.

Seated on the floor in front of Nita's desk, Spot in her lap, was Dairine. Nita sat up, not quite sure she was seeing what she thought she was seeing. "Uh, runt? What are you doing there?"

"Just working on something. Waiting for you to wake up. I brought you breakfast." Dairine picked up a plate Nita hadn't noticed behind her with buttered toast on it and a mug of coffee.

"Your typing could wake the dead. Are you trying to bruise Spot? Can you bruise Spot?" She gratefully took a swig of the coffee; it was a little strong. "Thanks for the fuel but…why?" Taking a bite of the toast, she pushed the covers aside and padded over to her dresser, tugging on a pair of jeans from the floor and rummaging around for a t-shirt.

Dairine set Spot up on Nita's desk, standing. She didn't want Nita to be looking down at her while she asked this. "Neets, how have you managed to work with a partner all this time?"

"What?"

Dairine stamped her foot impatiently. "Kit. Your wizarding partner and whatever else you're denying. How have you two managed to work together all this time?" She started pacing the room impatiently. "Roshaun and I can't seem to agree on _anything_. We argue, and I stand there and yell at him and he just sits there with this _look_ on his face until I shut up, and then he tells me I'm wrong!" She took a few deep breaths and met her sister's eyes. She asked, quite calmly, "How have you gone all this time without killing Kit?"

Nita stared at her sister for a moment, trying her best not to burst out laughing. It was a failed effort. "I swear...I'm not making fun of you, Dari." She leaned against the dresser to hold herself up. "Do you know how many times I've wanted to strangle Kit? For doing something? For saying something? For not doing something? All the time. But you know what? At the end of the day, when all the dust settles and I'm waiting for the next terror to start, I'm glad I had him watching my back, and that I know he'll be watching out for me again, and that I'm doing the same for him. We're a team. We're a unit. We work better together than we ever could alone. We fight, a lot, but we get answers we wouldn't get otherwise if we weren't bouncing off of each other. Sometimes things have to bounce kind of hard; sometimes they don't bounce back." She shrugged and pulled the manual out of her otherspace pocket, handling it like an old friend. "Wizardry, Kit, me, Life. In my head that's all bound together irrevocably. I can't imagine my life anymore without Wizardry and fighting on the side of Life. And I can't imagine my wizardry or even my day-to-day life without Kit. Working with a partner is just a whole different level from trying to go it alone."

She glared at her older sister and Spot scuttled out of her lap and under the desk to safety. "That's it? I come to you for help and that's all you've got? What sort of advice is that?"

Crossing back to the bed for another swig of coffee, Nita shrugged. "It's all the advice I've got, kid. I'm sorry, Dari, but it's true. Things don't always go smoothly with Kit and me. We've hit our speed bumps, but when we need each other, we're there. We make it work. I think you guys need to step away from your problem for a little bit, reevaluate it—"

"Been there. Done that. We're running out of time."

She began to hunt for her sneakers, "What about an outside prospective? Asking the advice of another wizard?"

"We don't completely trust the other wizards on Wellakh; the political situation is too unstable for us to let them know just how bad things are. I know we're all supposed to be on the same side, but…I'm not taking that risk. Spot, get over here."

Spot, scooted a little closer to her, and, recognizing that her temperament had calmed, climbed back in her lap.

"What about making contact with someone who understands water?"

"Understands water?"

"Try contacting Sree. Or maybe that Christmas tree. What was his name?"

"Filif. I don't see what you're getting at…"

Nita sighed. "Your problem on Wellakh—your first problem anyway—is water. The planet needs it and it's not getting any. You want an outside prospective that would be biased towards somebody that knows water. Filif feeds on water and sunlight and Sree lives in water every day of her life. They might be able to think of something that you two can't—or that you two wouldn't come up with for a long while."

Dairine nods, not quite looking convinced. "Anything else?"

Nita shook her head. "That's all I've got, short of turning the problem inside out and wearing your notebooks around as paper hats." She grabbed her bag, toast in her mouth and mug in her hand, "I've got to get going. I won't be home right after school—Kit and I have to take care of some things." She started down the stairs, "And close the door when you leave."

She stared at the mirror. "Why can't you come up with anything better?"

Her reflection just scowled back, and then grinned.

* * *

Dairine came barreling through the front door, dropping her backpack as she skidded to a halt. "Roshaun! Roshaun!" She growled. "Where are you?" She stormed into the kitchen; here she was with a brilliant idea and he must be off buying lollipops. Sugar addict.

She grabbed a banana from the fridge, only just barely noticing there was a note on the counter. "Dairine, if you're reading this, you forgot where you're supposed to be right now. I'm there. I'm sure I'll see you in about 10 minutes." Crap. She'd forgotten and now she was standing here looking like an idiot. Transit spell or walk? No sense in botching up the spell while she's annoyed; better run.

* * *

Nita met Kit over by his locker after last period. She saw that he was staring at a picture of Ponch he held in his left hand, backpack over one shoulder. Nita took his right hand and gave it a squeeze. "Hey there."

"Hi, Neets."

She kept his hand in hers. "Are you ready to go?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I'm ready. We should be able to catch a bus uptown if we hurry." He slipped the photo in his back pocket and slammed his locker shut. He was ready. He could do this.

The two young wizards made their way down the hallway and to the bus stop in silence, boarding the local bus and choosing a bench near the back, away from most of the other passengers. _Thanks for coming with me, I need this_.

She turned her head and looked at him, smiling. _Anytime. You know it._ She squeezed his hand again and realized a little embarrassedly that she'd been holding his hand since she got to his locker and hadn't let go. She didn't let go now, but turned her head to stare out the window, watching the familiar buildings pass by.

He tried to turn his mind to other things, wondering what was waiting on Mars for them that had Johnny O'Driscall so damn spooked that he wanted them to stay away. Maybe there was a whole civilization on the far side of Mars just waiting for them…

As the bus ground to a halt for the third time, Nita nudged him with her elbow, letting go. "C'mon. This is the stop."

Shaking his head, Kit got out and Nita followed, walking the three remaining blocks to the animal shelter and heading inside. At the front desk was a rather bright, perky girl in cyan jacket. "Welcome to the Humane Society. Are you here to save a four legged furry friend today?"

Kit winced. She was too peppy. Far too peppy. "Yeah, uh, I'm interested in a dog."

"Did you have anything in particular in mind?"

It took all his strength of will not to roll his eyes. _What's wrong with her? I'm here for a dog, not a jacket. _"I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for, but I'd like to see who you have."

The girl cocked her head to the side. "Who?"

"What animals you have," Nita corrected. _You want me to keep her out here while you talk to them?_

He gave a single nod. "May I go see them?"

She frowned, as though not sure she ought to let him back there alone. "It's my first day…"

"Your first day? Wow, I'd never have guessed," Nita said, trying to sound sincere. "Do you like it here so far?"

The girl nodded cheerily. "Oh yes, I'm very excited to be helping to place poor animals in good homes!"

Nita nodded, trying to pretend to be interested. "Very noble work. How did you get started here?" _How's it going, Kit?_

_They're so scared of me, Neets. I don't understand it._ Kit broke his mind connection with Nita, concentrating on the dogs in front of him. A Labrador mix of some sort, a bandaged Chihuahua, a boxer, a retriever, a skinnier than usual greyhound…they all stared back at him. He knelt by the Chihuahua's cage and the dog backed up. He spoke softly in the Speech. "_I'm not going to hurt you. What happened?_"

The Chihuahua just growled at him and opened his mouth as if to bark.

"_I'm not going to hurt you. If you tell me what happened, maybe I can help_."

His response came from a Great Dane he had somehow missed at first in the corner. He wondered how he could have missed a dog that size. _One of you burned him with smoke sticks. Burned fur off. Skin too._

Kit almost couldn't believe what he was hearing, except…he did know that there were people that cruel out there. His hands curled in involuntary fists and he took a moment to calm himself. _Let me help you. I'm a wizard. I can heal you._ He reached his hand out to the Chihuahua through the fencing, letting the dog get close to him, sniffing him.

_Friend?_

Kit nodded. _Friend_. He peeled back the bandages and could tell they hadn't been changed nearly recently enough. The dog was lucky if it hadn't gotten an infection yet. _What's your name?_

_Ajax._

Healing had never become his specialty; he wished Nita was here to do this, but she needed to keep distracting the girl at the desk. He pulled out his manual and flipped to a healing spell that would mend the flesh and purge whatever toxins had entered the creature. He read the spell as quickly as he could without tripping over the words, the feeling of the world listening in surrounded him as the tension mounted until the spell released him. The Chihuahua would probably have those scars forever, but they weren't open wounds now. He was going to be alright.

The dog didn't say anything in response, but tentatively licked his hand, the appreciation more than evident.

Kit sincerely wanted to take them all home. The thought of any of these animals being kept here longer than necessary (or worse _not_ being kept) was terrible.

_She's coming, Kit._

He could hear the footsteps. "I'm not sure I should have let you back here by yourself."

By the time girl from the desk had entered the room where the dogs were kept, Kit had tossed the old bandages in his backpack and hoped the girl wouldn't notice they were missing. She didn't.

She frowned at the cage as though she weren't sure about something, but she didn't ask about the bandages. Instead, she wiped away the frown and asked, "Have you found your special four-legged furry friend yet?"

Kit looked at the dogs again. He could spend a week and not feel as though he knew them well enough to pick only one. And none of them would ever be Ponch. Ponch had been _his_ dog. Now, Ponch belonged to the universe—or universes. He looked at the faces. The lab mutt and retriever would find good homes with kids. The boxer too—maybe with an athlete? Boxers had a lot of energy. The Chihuahua needed somewhere quiet and peaceful to learn to trust people again. The greyhound needed a decent meal in her. But that Dane…the blue Dane, not exactly a puppy, but still with plenty of years left to him…this was his dog. The dog he could see letting him stay in his room, sleeping at the foot of his bed. _What's your name?_

"Excuse me, have you made your decision?"

_Abernathy_.

Kit nodded. It fit. "Yes. I want the Great Dane there, in the corner."

* * *

Ten minutes later, huffing and puffing more than she would have liked to be, Dairine was pounding on Tom and Carl's front door. She was none too pleased to see Roshaun's smug face as he opened the door. "Find my note?" he asked, innocently.

"Just had to take care of a few things. Tom and Carl in?"

Roshaun stepped aside and let her in, only just keeping himself from grinning as he followed her back into the living room where the Senior wizards were waiting.

"Can I get you something to drink, Dairine? A soda? Water? Some oxygen maybe?"

Dairine nodded, plopping down in one of the chairs. "Water, please." She caught a few more breaths while Carl went to get her a glass. "Since when did I become as out of shape as Nita?"

_Your shape looks fine to me_, Roshaun offered.

Dairine glared at him.

Roshaun shrugged. "It's not as though I said it aloud…" He returned his attention to Tom. "At any rate, we were in the midst of discussing our proposal for that temporary world gate when you knocked, Dhairine. We don't think it's an unreasonable energy request; it is more efficient that repeatedly having to open gates between here and Wellakh. We are both needed on Wellakh; the Aethyrs threw Dhairine in my path for a reason. She is part of the answer to Wellakh's water problem."

"While I was there, my status changed from On Sabbatical to Active again," Dairine offered. "I'm supposed to be there. I just _can't_ be there twenty-four seven." She stared at him for a moment. "And you're wrong. The Powers threw you in my path. After all, you landed in my backyard before I landed in yours."

Roshaun dismissed her comment with a wave of his hand as Carl returned with a glass over water for Dairine. "Details. For the purposes of maintaining an appearance of normalcy in this world, Dhairine cannot at this time return to Wellakh with me indefinitely until these problems are resolved, and it is not reasonable to assume that I could resolve them from here. I must be able to maintain order on my planet as best I can. A Timeslide is out of the question since Wellakh lies beyond your temporal-spatial jurisdiction."

Dairine took a sip and absently patted Monty. She looked at her Seniors evenly. "We need this."

"And you need approval to do it in some way other than a blank check spell."

Roshaun nodded and Dairine said, "If we don't have another choice, we'll do it. But I don't think it's an unreasonable thing to ask for compared to the number of transit spells we'd have to be doing to manage this without getting me kicked out of school or my dad jailed if the police think he's chopped me up and hid me in the backyard."

Tom sighed. "It's hard to be a wizard here than in other worlds in that way, and that's not something that easily fixed. Even if you were to consider a permanent relocation there are a lot of hoops that would have to be jumped through on this end to maintain something plausible."

Dairine frowned. Permanent relocation? No one said anything about permanent relocation. The thought had crossed her mind that maybe she was done with the way things were run here…and wasn't it anybody's dream with half a brain to get to remake the political structure of a whole planet? Make it work right? That's a lifetime's work…It's crazy to think about right now.

"Dairine, drifting off on us?"

"We're not that boring, are we?"

She shook her head, "No, Carl, Tom. Sorry about that. Just thinking."

Roshaun looked at her, head only slightly tilted. _I caught some of that. Not sure what it was._

Dairine glared at him and turned to the Senior wizards. "Isn't it supposed to get _more_ difficult for someone to read your mind, and less likely for them to accidentally eavesdrop?"

Carl chuckled and looked at Dairine and Roshaun. "If he's hearing you at this stage it's probably not an accident."

"Are you insinuating that I'd purposefully try to eavesdrop on her private thoughts?"

Holding up his hands in an I-have-no-weapons sort of gesture, Tom replied, "Nothing of the sort."

"Nita told me that she and Kit hardly ever hear each other anymore unless they're trying to communicate that way. From what I understand it's common at the _beginning_ of wizarding partnerships. We've been at this for a little while."

Tom shook his head. "It's really only been a few months—that's not a long time in the grand scheme of things."

Roshaun's voice was tight. "A lifetime isn't much in the grand scheme of things."

Carl sighed. "Hear us out. At the beginning of a wizarding partnership, you hear each other think—a lot. It's before you know each other well, and sometimes, being able to call up the other person's mind so quickly—even accidentally—might save your life. You aren't new to this partnership, but you are in a new relationship with each other."

"Certain boundaries have been crossed—mental, emotional, physical—and those things do change the relationships between people. With those boundaries crossed, certain gateways of communication open up again, which is why you're hearing each other more now—deliberately or not—as things settle into your new relationship." He took a sip of his Coke before continuing. "These new intimacies—"

Dairine turned pink and even Roshaun couldn't quite keep his composure. "We're not—"

"Intimacy isn't _that_. That may be one element of it but there's so many others—confiding in someone, trusting them ultimately—"

"—wiping the spit from their face when they've been sick, facing whatever is coming together without knowing what's coming."

A strange expression passed over Dhairine's face then, and it wasn't one Roshaun was familiar with seeing on her before. After they'd said goodbye to Tom and Carl and the Senior had promised to see what theycould do about the gate, they were walking home and Roshaun finally asked about that expression. It had been confusion.

"You can't tell me what they described doesn't sound like Nita and Kit. If they were any closer they'd be surgically joined at the hip." She made a disgusted face and added, "Or non-surgically joined at the hip by some other means."

Roshaun chuckled at her reaction and pressed the button to cross the street—he was learning that cars wouldn't just stop for him because he was there.

Dairine shook her head. "We're not going that way. We've got somebody else to see first."

Tom kicked his shoes off just as Annie and Monty started barking at him. "No, I will _not_ take you for a walk. If you want to go walking, walk yourselves, you know the way out." He touseled their heads affectionately but didn't budge from the couch.

Carl snickered, sticking his head around the corner. "They like you—they don't want to go out alone."

The man on the couch frowned. "We're missing one."

No sooner had he said that than there was a bark at the door.

"I'll get it, I'm already up. He must have gotten out like you said to…" Carl opened the door and laughed. "We've got another one."

Tom's voice called out from inside the house. "Another what?"

"Callahan girl."

Tom slipped his shoes back on. If he was going to have to get up anyway, he might as well let the dogs out into the yard. "Did she bring a boy too?"

Carl laughed again, "Two of them." He winked at Kit and mouthed "Let go of the leash."

As Kit let go, Abernathy joined Annie, Monty, and the little dog as they raced to the backdoor, nearly knocking Tom over in the process.

Carl let his laughter out then as he led the two young wizards into the living room to find out the latest reason for their visit.


	6. On the Bed

**Author's Note:** It's been a while…please don't hate me, please review, and let me know if you think this should keep going. I haven't read _A Wizard of Mars _yet. I feel kind of awkward continuing this with it out and not having read it. This chapter isn't as long as it could be but I wanted to get it posted before I lost my nerve on going with this.

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_**In the Closet**_

_Disclaimer: The characters in question belong to Diane Duane. I own only the plot._

**Chapter 6: On the Bed**

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Nita watched Kit interacting with Abernathy. They seemed to be getting along. Their meeting with Tom and Carl had gone well enough. There wasn't a lot the Senior wizards could tell them about Mars at this point. They did grant authorization for more information about it to appear in their manuals, and reiterated Ronan's warnings about not getting in over their heads. Abernathy had a little trouble getting onto the bed the first time; he wasn't young and his joints weren't in the best of shape. He wasn't exactly forthcoming about telling his life story, but he'd let Nita do what she could for his stiffness and aching joints. Now she was sitting at Kit's desk, watching him scratching the Great Dane and talking quietly to him. The dog was certainly pleased—he was cautiously optimistic about being here. Kit and Nita had bathed him in the tub as soon as they got home this afternoon. Nita had gotten so much water on her that she was wearing one of Kit's t-shirts while she waited for hers to dry. She was planning to pick up a new collar for him sometime this weekend. Kit hadn't felt right putting one of Ponch's old ones on him.

She mused to herself; wizard and dog seemed to be getting along alright. Mrs. Rodriguez had invited her to stay for dinner, her famous _arroz con pollo_. She started thumbing through her manual, checking the new information to which she and Kit had been given access. Mars showed the possibility of sustaining life, or having sustained it at some point—scientists on Earth knew that much. The extremes of the planet's temperature made it difficult for Earth's scientists to believe there was life there now, but Nita knew better—she knew that other creatures could survive in circumstances that Earth's scientists couldn't imagine survivable. After all, she'd met a walking, talking Christmas tree and a giant metallic centipede that could eat a stack of dinner plates and go back for a phonebook as dessert.

Nita looked at Kit and Abernathy and couldn't help smiling; she wasn't sure he'd be able to bond with another dog. It was refreshing to know that some wounds _did_ heal.

Carmela whistled at Nita from the doorway. "I'd have thought you could get better eye candy than my disgusting little brother…"

She furiously fought down a blush—she _had_ been watching him and smiling. "I was just thinking about something Dari said earlier."

"What's that?"

Nita shrugged casually. "She wanted to know how I've worked with Kit so long without killing him. She's about ready to strangle Roshaun. They can't agree on anything at this point except that there's a problem and it needs fixing."

Kit raised an eyebrow at her. "What did you say? That I'm too devilishly good looking to want to strangle?"

Carmela made a gagging motion and Nita rolled her eyes. Her reply was sarcastic, "Not at all, I told her that sometimes I do want to strangle you, but we're the same blood type, so I ought to keep you around." She gave another eye roll. "That I can't imagine my life without you."

Carmela made a gagging motion again. "Mama sent me up to tell you dinner is ready. You guys are gross."

"Yeah, yeah, we'll be down in a minute." He looked at Nita as his sister started down the stairs. He didn't quite dare to say it out loud. _We're not the same blood type. Truth will out. What'd you really tell her?_

Nita muttered, not quite looking at him. He was right about one thing, truth will out, especially in their line of work. "That last part was true." She started for the door and he took her by the wrist before she could make it into the hallway.

"Really?" he asked softly.

"Kit, we've been at this a long time. I can't imagine doing this any differently."

"Wizardry? Or…anything?"

Her words to Dari earlier echoed in her head and she had to fight to keep from thinking them loudly enough for Kit to "hear." "We've got to go. Your parents are going to get peeved if we don't get downstairs for dinner." He followed her down to dinner, not pushing the issue for the moment. _Wizardry, Kit, me, Life. In my head that's all bound together irrevocably. I can't imagine my life anymore without Wizardry and fighting on the side of Life. And I can't imagine my wizardry or even my day-to-day life without Kit. _She realized how true it was as she sat down to dinner with his family.

Kit, for his part, was trying very hard to stay out of Nita's brain, focusing on his plate and making conversation with his parents. He had a feeling that whatever was going on in there…he wasn't supposed to hear it. He caught snippets of it—the thoughts were just radiating off of her. Wizardry. Kit. Life. Nita. All of it together.

His father interrupted his thoughts, "Kit, your mother asked you a question."

"Sorry, Mama. What did you say?"

Nita looked sidelong at Kit. _You okay?_

_ I'm hearing things I shouldn't be. We need to talk after dinner, I think._ He wasn't sure what to say. _I'm trying really hard not to listen. You're just thinking loudly._

Nita felt her face turning pink, downed her glass of water and excused herself from the table to get another. _Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap. _He was hearing her? What had he heard? This couldn't have been good. There was just no way this could be good. She tried to inhale and exhale slowly.

Carmela came in to fill her glass from the tap. "You okay? You don't look so hot. Did he say something rotten to you? I'll knock him senseless."

She shook her head, not trusting herself to speak any more words than necessary. "Just fine, thanks."

"Are you wearing my brother's shirt?" Nita didn't answer and they went back to the table. This was going to be a long meal. Maybe she could find a way to dismiss herself early.

"How's your sister doing, Nita? Kit mentioned she was sick last month."

Nita put another piece of chicken on her plate. "She's a lot better now. It wasn't too long lived. It was just awkward her being sick while she was out on Business. She was well-taken care of though."

Kit's mother tried to keep the conversation moving. "What's your new dog's name, Kit? Something with an A?"

"Abernathy," Kit and Nita answered simultaneously.

"Interesting name…I don't think I've heard it before."

Kit shrugged. "It was his name when I met him. I wasn't going to change it."

Dinner seemed to drag for a while after that until Kit's parents decided to start grilling Carmela on her newest boyfriend. It took the heat off of Kit and Nita. It was Carmela's turn to do the dishes, so when the meal was done, Nita and Kit escaped upstairs.

She was in a hurry to leave. "I've got to get my backpack and then I'll head home. I've got homework to do and a class tomorrow. I'll see you at school?"

Kit shut the door behind himself as Nita went to get her backpack. "You're not getting away that easy, so put your bag down. You've been acting shady since Carmela came in before dinner. What's wrong?"

Nita glowered. "Why were you listening to my thoughts?"

"I wasn't trying to, I swear. They were just loud. You know how that goes sometimes."

Nita threw herself on the bed, not wanting to look at him. "Tell me what you heard." She was aware she had a strong personality sometimes…it'd be just like her to have her thoughts pour out when she didn't want them to.

Kit sat on the end of the bed where Abernathy still was. Just like Nita to try and flip it around on him. "Just something about me and your wizardry, but it was intense. Are you annoyed at me about something?"

Nita sighed, sitting up on her elbows. "I'm not annoyed at you about anything. What Mela said just had me running some things through my head that I didn't really want to think about." He gave her an even stare, waiting. "The runt was waiting in my room this morning, asking how I've made it this long without killing you. I told the truth earlier—I can't imagine my wizardry or even my life any other way at this point. That last part probably sounds crazy and it had me freaked out, and Ronan was saying last night—"

"—that our wizardry might start giving us trouble."

"Yeah." She paused. "You got the same speech as me then?"

Kit thought back to sitting in the kitchen with Roshaun and Ronan eating sandwiches last night.

_Ronan had laughed, shaking his head. "You two poor blokes are lost causes I think. The Callahan girls have your hearts tucked in their pockets. Takes a strong man to be with a woman as strong as all that."_

_ Roshaun hadn't denied it. He and Dairine were openly dating. There was no reason to. Besides which, it worked out as a compliment to him—he was a strong enough man to handle a strong woman in his life._

_ "The One's Champion wasn't strong enough to handle a Callahan girl?" Kit asked coolly._

_ Ronan shook his head. "Not it at all. I just know a lost cause when I see one. She may have had the hots for me—who wouldn't?—but I knew she wasn't mine. I may have had the guts to kiss her first but…you've got her favorite soda in your fridge." Ronan smiled sardonically. He was referencing a set of emails he and Kit had exchanged. "A summer fling is nothing compared to two people who can't seem to keep their eyes or minds off each other, even when their hands are slow to catch on."_

_ Kit had clenched his fist. He wondered if it was really so obvious…he didn't look at Nita all that much. And never in any way but friendly. They were friends._

_ "Rodriguez, if you don't do something soon and stop lying to yourself and her, it's going to ruin your wizardry. Maybe even your friendship."_

_ "There's nothing to say. Saying anything like what you're implying I should say, which I'm not saying I need to, would ruin our friendship, Nolan. I'm not going to let that happen." I can't let it happen._

Kit hesitated. "Probably not exactly the same but close enough. Nolan said that if we were lying to ourselves it was going to cost us our wizardry." It made sense. If they were meant to be together and they ignored it and it caused problems and they became unhappy as wizarding partners…he felt like the whole world would be unraveling.

"When Mela came in, it reminded me of what I told Dari earlier. Wizardry, you, Life, me, hell, even Death—it's all bound together. I can't picture any of them without the others. I hadn't been thinking about it much, but once I said it…I did. And I was connecting it with what Ronan said last night."

"Neets, there's nobody I'd rather have having my back in this world. You know that, right?" Kit got up and started pacing. He didn't wait for a response. "I care about you too much to have anything screw up what we have. I don't know what we have…but I can't imagine not having it. Having something else wouldn't be worth the risk of losing you forever if things went badly. I don't know if I'm making any sense. I don't even know what I'm asking or trying to tell you." He just kept talking until he ran out of words. He stared at her, kind of helpless, not sure what he meant to say. "Annie said we were practically family already…but I think if I were your brother and I was having these thoughts, I'd be arrested," he said finally. "These are not brotherly feelings."

"Kit…I'm not exactly feeling sisterly towards you either. I can imagine Dari going away and not seeing her for months at a time. I could even imagine her running off to Wellakh and not seeing her for a couple of years. I can't imagine you going away. It'd be like being without my right arm, or without my book. Whatever this is…I don't know if we can keep saying we're just friends."

"I'm not sure there's any 'just' about it."

Abernathy raised his head drowsily. _I can smell you both. You smell like you're ready to mate._

Nita's face flushed bright pink. She didn't quite dare to look at Kit to see if the dog's comment had caused the same reaction in him. Kit had given up on pacing a few minutes ago and sat on the bed next to her. She was acutely aware of his presence—his elbow was touching her bicep, their legs were only a couple inches apart; it was only a twin bed after all.

_Please, don't hate me,_ Kit said, leaning down to kiss her.

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Dairine left a note on the breakfast table for Roshaun. Her face was grim. She hadn't wanted to tell him this when he was awake and could fight with her over it. Let him have this now so he could stew about it all day until she got home.

_I'll tell you what. I'm will to go your route, but if I do, I'm sharing the sun work with you. You're not carrying that risk on your own—it's together or nothing. I'm not backing down on this._


	7. In the Backyard

_**In the Closet**_

_Disclaimer: The characters in question belong to Diane Duane. I own only the plot._

**Chapter 7: In the Backyard**

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****Author's Note: **Another chapter up! I'm excited. I angsted over this a little bit. One of those long awaited things that I wanted to get just right. I really hope it lives up to it's expectations. Anyway, without further ado, I'm posting this so that I can hear your thoughts on it as soon as possible!**  
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Nita wasn't sure how to feel exactly. She thought back to a few hours ago. Kit finally kissed her. She sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to start it—she wanted it to be his move. She hadn't been certain what to expect. The feelings were out there now. They both knew that they cared for one another in a way that wasn't strictly platonic. It didn't change anything really. They'd still go to bat for one another a hundred and ten percent. They always would. They were partners, had been since the beginning. What did it mean now then? That they'd hold hands in the hallway at school? Go to dances together? Kiss…and more? That'd certainly been a lot of fun. She closed her eyes, head resting against the rowan tree, one of her oldest friends, soaking in the memory and moonlight.

_He'd mentally whispered to her, _Please don't hate me_ and he kissed he. She could sense him before he made a move even, his muscles were tense, he was nervous, but all that nervousness was shunted off to the side in exchange for action—he was going to kiss her. He just hoped it turned out all right. It was a short kiss, lips not quite sure what to do with one another, pulling back as though he were planning to dive into a swimming pool and changed his mind at the last minute and just jumped instead. Her arm was under her body at an awkward angle. He pulled away, embarrassed, glaring at the dog at the end of his bed for lack of anything else at which to look. After that, he didn't want to look at Nita._

_ She couldn't catch thoughts coming from him, but feelings. He was annoyed at himself—whether for trying or for trying and feeling as though he hadn't done it well, she wasn't sure. Face flushed red Nita gave an exasperated groan, twisting herself so she was laying properly on her back—arm freed from where it had been trapped under her body. She used her other hand to tug him forward by the shoulder, muttering, "Didn't count. That one was practice." She kept her hand on his shoulder—she was going to keep going to at least make sure they got a fair try at it this time. The other hand she rested on the back of his head. She was a little surprised at herself for being so brazen, but if they never got another shot at this, well, at least she tried. She'd been waiting for it long enough._

_ That time certainly went better…they were still learning but when they both pulled away she was pretty sure she and Kit had both been wearing smiles. He had tasted like his mother's chicken and rice dish they'd had for dinner. His mind felt very gray and brown…earthy. Dirt…rocks…meteorites. Not the sleek silver of metal and machines she was expecting. His specialty was un-alive things…that included rocks and land as much as cars and planes. Experiencing through him…they felt more alive, more aware._

_ "That was…"_

_ "Yeah…"_

_ They'd been about to give it another try when Carmela pounded on the door and came in without bothering to wait for an answer. "Parents sent me to tell you it's time for you to go home, Nita. It's late. And you gotta take the dog out before bed. You gonna walk her home, Kit?"_

_ Kit was leaning over the bed, face hidden as he slipped his shoes on. "Yeah, yeah, Mela. I'll take care of everything. Learn to knock, would you? Neets and I were in the middle of talking," he snapped._

_ Mela laughed. "It's you and Nita. Why would I knock, _El Niño_?" She made a face as she ducked out of the room._

_ Nita gathered up her backpack, not quite looking at him. "I don't need to be walked home. I'm a big girl—I tie my own shoes and everything, you know," she joked. Kit shook his head. He wanted to walk her home. Nita said goodnight to his parents downstairs, and putting Abernathy on one of Ponch's old leashes, wearing a collar made of the Speech, they started into the night. They didn't talk, but he kissed her one more time, briefly, just before they got to her house. Nita was grateful he didn't do it at the door. She wasn't sure she could handle any teasing from Dari yet or threats from her dad._

Now, several hours had gone by and she was in the backyard. She'd scurried past Dari and Roshaun drawing spell diagrams in the living room in their notebooks. If Dairine hadn't been so exhausted and distracted, she might or might not have noticed the odd expression on Nita's face. Nita said good night to her dad and took her telescope outside. Looking at the stars always helped to focus her when she was feeling out of sorts. She and Kit had finally made out. She wasn't exactly sure what it changed or didn't change. She knew as certain as anything that her life was bound to his—their wizardry, their day-to-day lives, all of it. She'd known that for a long time. So they'd done something they hadn't physically done before—they kissed. What did it change? Anything? Everything?

She did remember vaguely reading in her manual, what seemed a very long time ago, about permanent wizarding partnerships. They'd always be partners—they worked better that way. It was both or none. She smiled a little; how many times had he told her if they didn't both make it back from something, neither of them was going to make it back? He was sheer guts, every inch of him. It was hard to imagine he'd ever been bullied when she looked at him now. Then again, after everything the two of them had been through in the last few years, it was hard to imagine she'd ever been bullied.

It was nights like this she missed her mom the most. She missed her every day, missed seeing the way she danced as she cooked dinner and carried the laundry…but on a night like this, with a big milestone in her life, it hurt especially badly. She needed to will herself to sleep tonight, to go to Timeheart, to find what's loved and preserved.

She didn't have the time. Her no matter how tired she was, she was too on edge to sleep. With all the personal feelings, she'd let herself get distracted from the new information they'd been given about the Mars situation. She still had a lot of reading to do. She rubbed her eyes. "I miss you already, Kit," she murmured. She wished she hadn't had to leave. It felt more…right to pour over the information together, even if they were reading separately, not speaking. It was late. Too late for him to pop over to study together, too late for her to crack open the manual at this hour when she had school in the morning, and too late to be sitting here under Liused's comforting branches.

_Go to bed, little one. The stars will still be there in the morning, even if you can't see them,_ the tree reminded her gently.

Smiling, Nita packed up her telescope and brought it in the house, propping it up by the kitchen door while she went upstairs and went to bed.

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Dairine was frustrated, and that was putting it mildly. She could see all the reasons why Roshaun's plan was good. It was simple, and it was magic along the lines which he and the wizards on Wellakh were familiar with. It just threatened him too severely to be worth the risk. She wasn't letting him end up the Powers-knew-where. Not again. Nobody could handle that sort of spell backlash on their own, and he certainly wouldn't share it out with any of the Wellakhit wizards. He was too stubborn for his own good or theirs. What sort of chaos would descend on the planet if he died now? Not to mention, it was bad enough for his parents to have had to think him dead once—he couldn't put them through it again. He shouldn't put her through it.

She sighed. They need to do something and they needed to do it soon. The problem was water—not the sun. How do you bring water where there isn't any?

Dairine left a note on the breakfast table for Roshaun, folded in half, with his name scrawled on the outside. Her face was grim. She hadn't wanted to tell him this when he was awake and could fight with her over it. Let him have this now so he could stew about it all day until she got home. Dairine saw Nita coming down the stairs as she made her way out of the house. Nita looked tired. Roshaun was still asleep on the couch. She didn't want to be around for this.

Nita was barely aware as Dari left, still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She'd spent so long in the backyard last night she certainly hadn't gotten enough sleep. There was Roshaun, asleep on the couch in his weird nightcap. She ran into her father in the kitchen, just up himself, and turning the coffeemaker on. "Good morning, Daddy."

"Morning, Nita." He rubbed his temple, sitting down at the table to wait for the coffee. "Where's your sister?"

"She already left." Nita frowned. Her sister might be someone she could talk to about Kit. Maybe. She wished her mom were still here. Could she talk to her dad about this? It wasn't like she was a little kid asking permission to go out on a date with some guy. This was Kit, practically family, who'd gone on family vacations with them. Kit was part of her life, regardless of anything her dad might say, not that she was sure he would say anything. She didn't have any girl friends to talk to, let alone any female role models. Maybe she could talk to Tom and Carl…or Aunt Annie. She couldn't really imagine going to Dairine, even though Dairine was the only one who'd remotely been in this situation. She could talk to Millman when she got to school. She gave herself a mental headshake. Here she was with girl problems so to speak, and the only person she could come up with as a likely source to bounce ideas off of was the male school therapist. There was something more than a little wrong with that.

"Nita, you okay?"

She gave herself another mental shake. "I was just thinking about something. Dad, are you okay with Dairine and Roshaun?"

He turned to look at her over his shoulder, watching her pour the coffee into mugs. "No boy is good enough for either of my girls, but I have to say—she seems happy and I haven't seen him mistreat her in the slightest. The alien prince seems like a nice enough. I don't have any cause to complain except that I think he's going to take her away from me." He paused so long Nita was sure he was done speaking. He started up again, quietly, as though the thoughts were to himself. "Her sights were always out of this world. He's going to give her that chance and I won't be able to stop it. If he makes her happy, I don't want to stop it exactly. I'd just rather keep her here." He frowned. "Why?"

Nita shrugged, embarrassed. She tried not to let it show as she brought the mugs to the table. "Just wondering. It's not exactly a situation laid out in any parenting handbooks. I don't think the _What to Expect When…_ series had any chapters that covered 'what to expect when your daughter brings home an alien prince'."

He raised an eyebrow. "None of them covered what to expect when you found out your daughters became wizards, promising to sacrifice their lives, limbs, and father's blood pressure to preserve Life either. You girls were a little bit young to make those sorts of decisions, you know. If you made them now I'd still say you were too young."

She smiled at him. "But it was the right decision. We've done what we felt we had to, what we wouldn't have felt right not doing, no matter what the cost. In Life's name and for Life's sake we promise to preserve that Life and help it grow when it is right to do so." She stood up and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see you tonight. I'm stopping by the store on the way home. Kit got a new dog this week. Do you need anything when I'm out?"

He shook his head. "Just fine. I may be working late tonight. The floral tape and wire for all the corsages and whatnot with prom arrived yesterday and with prom season just around the corner I want to get as much done for it as I can ahead of time."

Nita headed out the door, just as Roshaun was waking up. Millman might actually be her best option for someone to talk to about all this. How bizarre was that?

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Nita got to Millman's office and waited, sitting herself down on a chair in the outer office, flipping open her manual, trying to catch up on some of the Mars information. She had study hall this period so it wasn't a terrible thing to miss. She wasn't exactly sure what she was going to say to him, but it had to be better asking him for advice than asking no one. What she wasn't expecting to see after sitting outside his office reading for ten minutes was Dairine walking out of it.

"What are you doing here, runt?"

Dairine looked up sharply, glaring over her glasses. "Don't call me that. What are you doing here?"

She shifted uneasily in her seat. "I wanted to talk to Millman about something personal; this is my study hall period."

The redhead stuffed the papers she was carrying in her backpack and said offhandedly. "I want my GED. Don't tell dad." Dairine started off down the hallway as Millman poked his head out, calling Nita into his office.

Any of the lines of conversation Nita had had stored in her head disappeared like wisps of smoke in a strong breeze. She blurted out, "Why does Dairine want her GED?"

"You know I can't break confidentiality. What brings you in today, Nita? Still not sleeping well?"

She shook her head, her mind distracted. "No worse. And I'm caught up on all my work. I don't know how long I can keep this up. I'm on Errantry again."

"I don't think I can get away with justifying a single day more off of school for either of you. Flags will be raised if they aren't already."

Nita nodded. "I don't want to make anything difficult for my dad or you or anybody else involved. I had more of a personal reason for coming in today. I didn't know who else to talk to."

He leaned back at his desk. "You're always welcome to come in to talk, Nita, you know that. You couldn't talk to Kit?"

"It's about him. Sort of. And me. What's supposed to change? I mean, does anything change, does it make a difference? Is there any point to…any of this?"

He crossed his legs, a green and blue sock matching his sweater becoming visible between his pant leg and shoe. "Any point to what, Nita?"

She took a few steadying breaths. "Kit. I love him, as my best friend, my partner, as everything. We kind of reached the point last night where we were willing to say that and he kissed me. And I don't know if that changes anything or if it's supposed to change anything. What's the difference between a best friend and someone you're dating? You go out together, do things together, and trust each other. It all sounds the same to me. So is the only difference that something physical happens every once in a while? Everyone was warning us that denying how we felt about each other would ruin our wizardry. What you want to happen and what you believe will happen or should happen, happens. What you say makes a difference. That's what wizardry is. Well, we've said it now. Does it change anything? Is anything supposed to change?" She banged her head against the wall softly. "I miss my mom," she muttered.

"_Believe_ something and the universe is on its way to being changed, because _you've_ changed, by believing. That same principle applies here. Personally, I don't think there is a lot of difference between a best friend and a soul mate in some respects. It's the person you trust most in the world, the person you will take care of and who will take care of you. I have to say, I don't have a lot of experience concerning wizarding partners who become romantically involved. I don't see why it should be different. Best friends frequently don't cross the boundary between friends and more than friends because they aren't physically attracted to one another, or they're too shy when it comes down to it. If that's not an issue…I tend to think best friends make the best partners—in all senses of the word."

She sighed. She certainly had changed. She wanted to kiss Kit right now, to sit in his arms and have him tell her things were going to work out. After last night, she felt like maybe that was actually an option. It felt like they were out of secrets. It was all out in the open. "And if it doesn't work out?"

"Things change, Nita. You can't go back to a time before they changed—it's just not doable. You can work through them, but things never go back to what they were. They may be better, they may be worse, but life never stays the same, not for a moment. Each moment comes and goes, and things change. If they don't, you're not living life."

She groaned in frustration. "You're giving me platitudes, not answers. Say Kit and I hadn't been best friends for the last however many years, and we started dating. I haven't really done this before. What makes a relationship a dating relationship?"

"You go out together. You stay home together. You talk. You do pretty much exactly what you and Kit have always done. I know he's a major part of your life, Nita. In that respect, you're right, nothing has changed. Saying it out loud though is an acceptance of that—it's saying that you know he's important you and you want everyone else to know it too. I don't know what else to tell you, Nita."

She rubbed her temples, giving a dry laugh. This was utterly ridiculous. "I just want to know what I'm supposed to do. I mean, what does it say that I have news like this—that I'm dating someone I love—and the only person I tell is my shrink?"

* * *

Dairine had her lunch period. She wasn't sure exactly how or when she was going to explain about the GED to Nita and her dad. She'd hoped to put it off until she'd actually done it. The testing was in a few weeks. She could test out of high school and make it a little easier to transition herself out of the ties this world had on her.

She was almost to the cafeteria when she heard a voice calling to her from the chain link fence. "Dhairine!"

She spun around. Only one person put quite that pronunciation on her name. She stalked towards the fence. She had been counting on not encountering him for another few hours. "What are you doing here? This is my school."

"I know this is your school. It was the logical place to look for you. What did you mean by this?" He shoved the piece of paper she'd left him through the chain link fence. She didn't bother reading the words—she knew what they said.

_I'll tell you what. I'm will to go your route, but if I do, I'm sharing the sun work with you. You're not carrying that risk on your own—it's together or nothing. I'm not backing down on this._

She put one hand on her hip, glaring at him with a stare that tended to work wonders on the playground. Unfortunately for her, he was pretty much immune to it. She'd have to come up with something better. "I mean exactly what I wrote. We need a solution. I'll do it your way, but we're sharing the risk."

He glowered at her. "Dhairine, I have done similar wizardries before and am not unaccustomed to working with stars."

She snapped. "Neither am I. I pulled iron from the heart of a star not all that long ago in Ireland. I can do this, and if you'll take the risk, so will I. Otherwise we can start working on another solution. I see the problems with my idea about going below the surface to work on the water problem. Water needs to come from somewhere—I don't think the sun is the place for it."

"The water isn't in the sun, but if we quiet her down, it will help preserve what water is still on the ground."

She stared at him, trying to keep her temper in check. No sense in attracting attention to themselves. "You can't be here. I have to eat lunch and get back to my classes. I can't explain a Wellakhit king tagging along behind me, arguing with everything I say. Go home and we'll sort this out when I get there."

He couldn't help but wonder how such a short little thing could look so imposing when she wanted to, but he didn't budge. He just stared down at her calmly. "What would the use in going home be?"

"You're going to get me in trouble here. It looks like you're just some creeper standing outside the fence of the high school talking to me. First you're going to get in trouble, I'm going to get in trouble, and then, I am going to have to clean up your mess, so just go home." She had her teeth clenched, trying hard not to raise her voice. She could feel Spot straining in her backpack, wanting to come out and defend her—Spot knew she was agitated. "Spot, settle down. It's fine."

He stood there, staring at her impassively.

"Just go home and we'll settle this when I get out of school. I have another idea if you're willing to listen to it." _Nita's idea_, she thought to herself. "I have an idea about how to pull out the water but we need to consult an expert. If you don't want to go home yet, go see Tom and Carl. I'm sure you can find your way from here. I've got another three hours left." She walked away from the fence, hoping he wouldn't stay there, not quite daring to look back. She couldn't just walk out of school right now and take care of things, no matter how much she wanted to. She settled herself down at the end of a table, nodding to one or two guys she knew, not saying anything. She un-slung her backpack from her back and took out Spot and her bologna and mustard sandwich, eating while she started looking for contact information for the Senior of the Waters around the Gates.


	8. At the Schoolyard

_**In the Closet**_

_Disclaimer: The characters in question belong to Diane Duane. I own only the plot._

**Chapter 8: At the Schoolyard**

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* * *

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Nita saw Kit for a split second as she headed off to her first class after lunch. They didn't have time to talk, nothing more than brief eye contact. As she settled into her seat and flipped open her notebook, she felt him make mind-contact with her. She could sense him, half a dozen rooms away, sitting in his history class chewing on a pencil. He was sitting next to a gangly blonde boy Nita recognized vaguely as being in several of Kit's other classes. She was sure he was equally aware of her in her math class, the hum of gossip in the rows behind her—no one ever seemed to pay attention in this class.

_Neets?_

She couldn't help smiling at the image of him, chewing on his pencil and scowling at the paper in front of him. She tried to fight down the smile so that her classmates didn't think she was an utter lunatic. Then again, most of them probably already thought she was. _Yeah?_

He erased something on his paper. _You want to come over after school and read up on Mars? Haven't really looked at all of it since the authorization went through._

_ Can you come to my place instead? Dad's working late and I need to grill the runt and make sure she eats. She's up to something._

Nita could practically feel Kit's eyes roll. _When isn't she up to something? I'll meet you by your locker after school._

The connection faded as they started to pay some attention to their classes, but Nita was restless through the next two periods, wondering what Dari had in mind. She still wasn't sure if talking to Millman today had made her feel better or worse about things with Kit. She really wanted to tell her mom about this, as soon as she had time to go to Timeheart. Maybe she'd have Aunt Annie over for tea. She gave a mental groan—as if it was ever only one cup of tea. She wondered at that groan; as much as she had disliked the whole come in for a cup of tea ritual at the start of her trip to Ireland, she didn't find it so unbearable anymore. She liked the taste of tea. It was better than coffee at any rate. Nita suddenly noticed the classroom was starting to empty and scribbled down the assignment from the blackboard and got up, shoving her things into her backpack.

Kit was waiting by her locker. He'd already gotten everything he needed out of his for the day. "You'll never guess what I saw at lunch." They didn't have the same lunch period these days.

Nita shut her locker. "What's that? Food coming out of the cafeteria that actually _looked_ like food?"

"Even weirder. Mr. Sun-King showed up looking for your sister."

Nita stared, nudging him in the ribs and looking towards the gate. There was Roshaun, a lollipop in his mouth, waiting for Dairine. She asked quietly, "You think he's been here all that time since lunch?"

Kit shook his head. "He wasn't by the gate at lunch. He was by the tables then." They held back a moment and watched Dairine storm over to him. They couldn't hear the argument, but judging by the body language, Dairine's temper was long gone. Nita and Kit moved closer as if passing by casually. They could hear some of the argument.

"I told you to go home. What's wrong with you?"

"I did leave. Your Seniors granted authorization on our gate for the upcoming three weeks. This evening we will activate it. You also informed me that you finished your mandatory school day at three o'clock; logically I returned at three to escort you home." His body language was languid, unhurried, utterly unconcerned; his tone of voice made it all sound as though this was incredibly reasonable and he had done nothing wrong in the slightest. It only made Dairine look all the madder.

A kid was walking towards Dairine and Roshaun. Nita vaguely recognized the kid as one of Dairine's poker buddies and silently told Kit so as she saw him raise an eyebrow in question.

"Callahan, this freak bothering you?"

The smartass reply flew out of the redhead's mouth without hesitation. "He's not, you are. Out of my face. I don't have time to deal with your crap."

Nita could feel a spell building, and a crowd forming near the gate. She could almost taste the mob's thoughts: if Dairine Callahan was going to fight somebody, people wanted to see it. Not to mention, there was a weird older boy with long hair outside the gate, where had he come from? The crowd was curious and this looked like it would be a good show. Nita thoroughly hoped it wouldn't…it didn't feel like one of Kit's spells. She wasn't sure who it was coming from.

Dairine put her hand on Roshaun's arm, squeezing a little bit, _Don't overreact_. "This is my boyfriend, Jackson. Put a sock in it and get out of my way unless you're in the mood for a black eye."

The boy frowned. "Since when do you have one of those?"

Dari snorted, turning away. "Shows how much attention you pay. C'mon." She tugged Roshaun by the arm and they left.

The boy called after her, "And what kind of boyfriend is he if you're threatening to give me the black eye and he's not?"

Nita watched, amused, as 'Shash Jackson tripped, his left shoe stuck to the ground. She and Kit slipped out amid the snickers of the freshmen.

"Well, that could have gotten ugly fast."

Nita shook her head. "What do you mean could have? It did. It could have been worse, but…" She looked for the words. "You remember what people were saying about us the summer we went to Ireland?"

"Yeah, they thought you'd been sent away because I got you 'in trouble.' Idiots. I still don't get it. It's not like we went around panting at each other or anything." He kicked a rock and watched it skid halfway across the street. "Why?"

She sighed. "I think Dari's getting ready for her own vanishing act and after that scene…same sort of rumors are going to fly."

Kit raised both eyebrows. "Let's stop by my place before yours…I'll get Abernathy and you can tell me what's going on. Wouldn't want to get home at the same time as the lovebirds anyway." They had been following about 10 yards behind Roshaun and Dairine, but they reached the point in the walk where they broke off and headed towards Kit's house.

"So what exactly is up with Dairine?"

Nita blushed, wondering how to explain. "I went to talk to Millman today—"

"The school shrink you were seeing after your mom…?"

"He's a therapist and yeah, that's the one," she admitted tersely. "When I was going in, Dairine was coming out. She had a GED book. I think she's planning on testing out and not finishing high school."

Kit unlocked his front door, walking in. "Can you blame her? You know how hard it is to be a wizard here. If she went off with Roshaun she wouldn't have to hide it, wouldn't be responsible for passing in the adult world here. I'm surprised she'd even bother with the GED."

Nita stared at him as she flopped herself down on the sofa. "She's a minor and if she's going to get out of here, she's got to do it in a way that's not going to raise flags. If she just disappears, the police are going to think my dad or I chopped her up and hid her body in the walls or something."

Kit made a face. "I wouldn't sit there. I'm never sure when Carmela will be bringing one of her boyfriends home. She's not allowed to bring them up to her room."

She reached out a hand and he helped her up and they started up the stairs. She gave him a lopsided grin, mustering up the courage to ask about whether last night was one-off, or if he thought it'd happen again. "Think your parents are going to ban me from your room?"

He couldn't help flushing a little, Nita noticed, but he was definitely grinning back at her. "I think so long as Carmela doesn't catch us by surprise again and blab, we should be able to get away with it for a while. That is…if you want to."

She answered him with a kiss and he fumbled for the doorknob. She couldn't help whispering in his ear, "So we duct tape Mela's mouth shut as soon as we see her?"

He burst out laughing so hard that he nearly fell over, slinging his backpack on the floor. "I think that's the best suggestion I've heard in about a week." He pulled his manual out of his pocket, through the otherspace pocket. Nita dug hers out too and they sat on the bed, reading through the details in their manuals about Mars in companionable silence, occasionally commenting to each other about something, or making notes to check back over things later. About an hour into their reading, Abernathy scratched at the door, and Kit let him in. The dog claimed half of Kit's bed for himself, causing Nita and Kit to scrunch up on the top half. Kit muttered, "Greedy dog" but didn't seem to mind or make the dog move. On the contrary he reached out for Nita's hand and held it for a while as they read…until he had to turn the page anyway.

"It looks like there's a presence on Mars. Not necessarily life forms exactly."

"Not like Dairine's amoeba on Europa."

Kit frowned. "Whatever it is, I get the impression it's not indigenous. Something came from elsewhere and has planted itself on Mars. Maybe it's got its sights on Earth."

"And maybe you've watched too many sci-fi movies, Kit."

Kit stared her down. "Doesn't mean it's not true, Neets." They were about to go back to their reading when he looked at the clock. "You said you wanted to eat at your place?"

"Yeah. I'm cooking tonight—picked up burger meat and buns at the store the other day. Dad's working late I think; he might come home just long enough to eat. Hamburgers out on the grill with as great as the weather's been."

Kit peeled himself off the bed. "Then we ought to get going. My parents are both going to be home from work soon. I'd just as soon leave them a note and be out of here before they get here." They gathered up their things and left a note for his parents on the bulletin board. DINNER AT NITA'S. HOME LATER. They eased passed Carmela and her latest boyfriend on the couch, sharing a set of headphones and listening to Japanese music or something and exited the house as unobtrusively as possible with Abernathy on one of Ponch's leashes. "I'm shocked she brings boyfriends over, knowing all the craziness that could be going on at the house. As far as I know the TV and DVD haven't acted up in front of any of them. I haven't had to zap anybody's memory." When they reached the Callahan house Dairine and Roshaun didn't appear to be home.

"Wonder what they're up to."

"Probably rearranging the universe, one solar system at a time."

She snorted. "Even Dari doesn't have that sort of power anymore. She likes to think she does. You want to help me with the burgers? Meat is in the fridge."

* * *

Dairine couldn't believe that Roshaun had the audacity to show up at her school, not once, but twice in one day. What was he thinking?

Roshaun looked at her, bemused, and slowed his strides; she had to take two steps to match each of his. She'd do it without complaint, rather than ask him to slow down, but he slowed anyway, not wanting to her to struggle terribly much. "I just wanted to escort you home. Sitting in your domicile all day is becoming rather monotonous."

She rolled her eyes. "It hasn't been that many days, Roshaun. I'm not having a picnic at school, you know. You're going to cause problems. A stranger hanging around outside the gates of the school and talking to a girl isn't usually seen as a good thing. You could have been hauled off and how would I have explained you or gotten you out of trouble? You don't have an I.D. Think before you do these things."

"For your information I _was_ thinking and I felt ineffectual sitting there alone. There's too much to be done for me to be nonfunctional. I simply cannot do it, Dhairine." He stood still, folding his arms and looking down his nose at her.

They were nearly home. "Then do something useful. Go to work with my dad tomorrow. Hell, go to work with him tonight; it's his late night. I have things I need to do. I'll take you to the shop."

He paused, staring at her. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Damn right I'm serious. I can set up the gate this afternoon. I'm trying to contact the Senior wizard of the whales tonight. You ought to go do something useful," she grumbled, tossing her backpack on the floor.

Roshaun shook his head, leaning against the door frame. "If you're going to talk to the Senior in the Waters, I'm going with you. This is my business as much as yours, more so even. It's my home."

"I'm still waiting to hear back from her." Dairine didn't want to admit that she had some misgivings about the meeting. Nita and Kit had had plenty of dealings with S'reee but she hadn't had any herself. Earth's oceans weren't exactly part of her specialty and the Song of Twelve business had all been before her Ordeal. She sighed. "I still need to work some things out. Why don't I take you to the flower shop? You can help my dad out while I get some thinking done, and after dinner we can both go meet with S'reee."

"That would not normally be part of my job description," he replied with some humor.

* * *

Neets was outside working the grill and Kit had come back into the house to use the bathroom. On his way out, he saw Dairine coming up the stairs from the basement, an old duffle bag in her hand. "Running away from home?"

Dairine shook her head. "Not yet. And before you ask—I see it coming—Roshaun's at the shop with dad. We've got the world gate set up in the basement, so don't run into it. We're going to meet with S'reee tonight for another angle on Wellakh's drought."

Kit leaned against the wall, looking at her Dairine. "I know you don't want my help, but I had a thought."

She scowled at him. "This isn't your intervention; we don't need help."

Kit shook his head. "Just because we weren't originally assigned to this intervention doesn't mean we shouldn't intervene. The Powers throw us in each other's way for a reason. You remember that wizard Darryl that Neets and I were working with?" He just barely stopped himself from saying "working with just after your mom died." He moved on quickly. "She and I both got assigned to him separately. We were both suited to the job for different reasons and if we had gone in at the same time, she wouldn't have been there to pull me out. Stuff happens the way it does for a reason. Anyway, how's your finesse with spelling developing?"

Dairine frowned, watching him warily. "I think it's coming along fine. Always more to learn but…I'm not ramming my head against the wall trying brute force. I know better at my age."

He raised his hands in a surrender gesture, then folded his arms casually. His voice was quiet. "I just thought…maybe you ought to give the practice universes a try. Like the intervention Nita did with your mom and with Darryl. You don't want to go into the sun; I'm not sure doing anything directly to the atmosphere or water will trigger the change you want. I think your best bet on Wellakh may be to go find the planet's kernel and see what you can do from there. It'll take practice, but you'll get your results. Talk to Tom and Carl about it and see if you can get the authorization for it and if you can…the information you'll need will show up. Dinner should be ready in about 15 minutes," he added as an afterthought, heading out to the backyard to help Nita. He knew Dairine well enough to steer clear of deliberately suggesting that she ask Nita for help on this intervention, but he knew she was a smart enough girl to think of it on her own…and it'd be her decision as to whether or not she would ask for help. Most of wizardry was talking and making decisions—a person couldn't make the decision for someone else no matter how much you wanted to.

Dairine was bristling, the energy coming off her nearly tangible as she went upstairs to start packing. Nita had practice at dealing with kernels. Going after the kernel was the logical answer and it hadn't hit Dairine. It wasn't an area of her expertise. She hated the thought of asking her sister for help, but it might be the best answer. Kit was right. The Powers threw all of them in each other's ways for different reasons. When Roshaun had turned up, Dairine was certain it was the Powers way of punishing her for trying to go over Tom and Carl's heads on the excursus. He was insufferable. But he _was_ the answer to the problem they had with Earth's sun. Maybe the Powers were killing two birds with one stone—punishing her and bringing the answer to one of Earth's problems. He was the answer to more than one problem that had come up since then even, or part of the answer. Nita and Kit had been working separately on Darryl's ordeal without realizing it, and it had turned out that they had the right answers together. As far as mom…well, that was better off not dealt with. She shoved it aside, compacting it into a tiny corner of her mind. A part of Dairine knew and understand why things had gone the way they had gone, but there wasn't a hell of a lot about it that made her feel any better about the whole situation. She rubbed Spot absent-mindedly as he bounced on her bed a little. "Where are those dresses? I want to bury them at the bottom of the duffle." She started packing up a few essentials—underwear, socks, giant t-shirts, a ratty pair of cargos, the dresses…

Dairine came downstairs, still mulling over the idea of going after Wellakh's kernel. It would keep both of them away from Wellakh's star, which was Roshaun's expertise (and not the problem right now), though it was where he was sure the answer was. She was better off staying away from the star—it was unstable and had been that way for a long time. _It_ wasn't what was causing the drought. She didn't have any experience with kernels, but she could learn. A little voice in the back of her head said, _Or you could just ask your sister for help_, but she brushed the little voice away. _Besides, Nita and Kit will be busy enough with that business Aunt Annie brought them._

Kit grabbed plates and glasses from the cupboard while Nita got the lettuce, tomato, and condiments out of the fridge. "Dari, get the buns."

Dairine grabbed the bag from the cupboard and tossed them on the table.

Nita frowned, hearing the thunk, and didn't bother looking at her sister. "You're eating the most dented one."

Dari rolled her eyes, replying glibly, "Doesn't change the taste."

"Where's Mr. Sun King?"

Dairine pushed her chair back and sat down, grabbing a bun from the bag and reaching for a patty. "At the shop with dad. I thought it would be good for him."

She stared at her sister, mid-reach for her own burger. "What made you think that was a good idea?"

She shrugged, grabbing a second burger and slathering it with mustard. "I wanted some space after the scene he caused at school."

"And you thought making him dad's problem was a good plan?"

She didn't respond.

The silence was broken by the sound of a car pulling in the driveway. Kit got up to set two more places at the table. Nita watched as her dad and Roshaun came in. She was surprised—she couldn't remember seeing Roshaun in Earth-garb other than a floppy t-shirt. He had on one of her dad's work shirts, and a tie. His hair was tied back from his face. He was even wearing an invisibility illusion over the Sun Stone. "Doesn't clean up bad, runt," she muttered to her sister. Dairine just looked smug; she had picked out the outfit. "Dinner's ready. Potato chips, burgers, and salad."

Harry Callahan looked at the array of food and kissed Nita on the top of the head as he went for the coffee machine, turning it on. "Only on a dinner break—Mike's watching the shop for me. Hello, Kit."

"Hi, Mr. Callahan."

The Wellakhit King gracefully settled himself at the table and dropped the invisibility spell on the Sun Stone as he sat at the table beside Dairine. "The experience was most educational."

Nita's dad looked amused. "It seemed every time a teenage girl came into the shop and saw Roshaun, she left and came back with three friends. You could be very good for business." He got up to get his coffee. "You're welcome to come back to the shop after dinner if you don't have anything that has to get done here."

Nita saw a strange look pass over her sister's face as she watched the looks fly back between her and Roshaun.

Kit just barely kept himself from laughing out loud. He whispered to Nita, "I don't think the image of hordes of girls hitting on Roshaun is sitting well with her."

Dairine shot Kit an I-heard-that look that she would have loved to use to severely maim him if it wouldn't have been a violation of her Wizardry Oath.

When dinner was over, Roshaun accompanied Mr. Callahan back to the shop at Dairine's insistence. She glared at Kit in a why-don't-you-make-yourself-scarce sort of way and he headed into the living room while she most uncharacteristically offered to help her sister with the dishes. They worked in silence for several minutes while Nita waited for Dairine to introduce whatever was on her mind. When the runt finally opened her mouth, the words that came out had nothing whatsoever to do with anything Nita was expecting to hear.

"How are you with kernels?"

"There are a lot of different types, Dari. A person's kernel, a world, a universe…they're all different, but the same general rules apply. I wouldn't say I'm an expert, but I keep practicing. I'm getting to understand them, but it's like with the rest of wizardry. The longer I study wizardry the less I feel I understand anything. Or rather, I understand that there's always more I didn't even know I didn't know."

"You've had months of practice at this." It wasn't a question. Dairine was irritated at herself and scrubbed at the plate she was supposed to be drying as though intending to take the printed flowers along the edge right off it. "Wellakh is in trouble. I think Roshaun and I are slamming our heads against the wall and we don't have time to bang our heads like this." She took a deep breath as though there was a bad taste in her mouth. She took several more before she managed to get the words out. "I'm on errantry and I greet you. I request your assistance on an intervention on…" Dairine went on, giving Wellakh's name in the Speech, defining the type of intervention necessary, the probably danger level and duration. When she stopped, she paused for half a breath before adding, "Well?"

"I'm there."

"Me too. Mars should still be here when we get back," Kit said, lounging against the doorway between the kitchen and the living room. He was itching to get to Mars but…some things could wait. Nothing was set to happen immediately with the Mars project…they could do this.

Dairine snorted. "Who invited you?"

Kit raised his eyebrow, looking from one Callahan girl to the other, quite evenly. "Nita's butt might need to be pulled out of the fire—Roshaun will be too busy saving yours. Somebody's got to look after her."

Nita threw the wet dishrag at him across the room and managed to catch him square in the chest with it. She was rather proud of herself for that—her aim was good. She crossed to the kitchen table and stretched out on one of the chairs, her legs crossed on the floor in front of her. "You can finish washing the dishes."

Dairine dropped the slightly damp dishtowel on the counter. "And drying. I'm done. I've got things to take care. Spot!" She darted out of the kitchen.

Nita made a sour face and tilted her head towards the sink, indicating that they'd finish the dishes together. As she got into Dairine's place for drying and Kit started to wash, she said, "Had to know Dari'd never actually finish her turn with the dishes."

"I wish Sker'ret was here. There wouldn't be any dishes left to have to wash."

She chuckled. "Maybe we'll see him at the Crossings."

Kit shook his head. "Dairine's got the World Gate up in the basement—a subsidized one to help take care of the energy for the transports to and from Wellakh. Roshaun doesn't even have to stay here this week. He could go and come back every day. Of course, that would be selfish waste of energy that the Powers are just handing over to him." The both laughed; yeah, right…Roshaun would stay to save energy…not to keep making out with Dairine or anything.

"I have to say, I was surprised to hear Dairine ask for help. That's not like her, not until she's real desperate. You think things have gotten that much worse this quickly? Or—" She paused. "You said something to her, didn't you?"

Kit shrugged, but there was a small telltale smile on his face. "I followed a hunch. The Powers don't waste. Two of you in the same house…she had a problem and it looked like you might be the answer to it and I was at the right place at the right time to nudge her in your direction." He grinned outright at her. "And where you go, I go. Partners for life, for Life's sake." He leaned forward and kissed her, resting a hand on the counter on either side of her.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Please hit the shiny review hyperlink? I think it was shinier back when it was a button, but they didn't ask for my vote on it. So I reread the whole series (now I feel like correcting details in the story before this one and this one...) and I got a hundred pages into a Wizard of Mars before I left for Taiwan. Now I'm 6000 miles from my copy of the book. I left it at home. I had planned to finish it on the plane. I'm so sad over it right now. Waiting to have it shipped halfway around the world to me.

Anyhoo, here I am, I updated again and I've got all sorts of thoughts churning in my mind over this story. Please review so I know what you think. I can take criticism, I can take praise, I just love to know how people respond to the words that keep falling out of my silly fingers-I'm never sure what they will be.


	9. In the House

_**In the Closet**_

_Disclaimer: The characters in question belong to Diane Duane. I own only the plot._

**Chapter 9: In the House**

**Author's Note:** I just wanted to make a note on ages. Diane Duane's timeline in the story is unclear and a little screwy. I did just reread all the books and I can't remember which book, but one of them says something about Nita having been a wizard for over two years. So if Nita was 13 when the books started, and Dairine was 11…that would age them up to 15 and 13. Since between Nita's mom's diagnosis and the end of Wizards at War is about a year, I've kind of made the assumption that now they're more like 16 and 14. Kit's probably 15 with his whole skipped a grade thing. Anyway, since I brought up the GED test in the last chapter, I thought I'd make it clear that I was going with the assumption that Dairine is probably a high school freshman.

* * *

She was brushing his hair slowly, carefully, as he sat on the end of her bed. She'd been at it some minutes before finally broaching the subject that was on her mind. She informed him, almost casually, "I formally requested assistance in our intervention."

"You went to see the Senior About the Waters without me?" he asked tersely, twisting his body to look at her. "I explicitly informed you that I expected to be present for that meeting."

Dairine let out an annoyed breath. "No…I told you I wouldn't see S'reee without you. I requested help from elsewhere. Local help." She sighed. "My sister has had practice dealing with world kernels. I think she can find Wellakh's and help us set things to rights."

He frowned. "Your sister has even less experience concerning Wellakh than you have. I don't see how her assistance can be relevant." He let his body resume his normal posture.

She resumed brushing his hair and watched his eyes close in the mirror. The look on his face mostly relaxed, willing to listen to her and see if she might have something reasonable to say. "Your star is not the problem. You know that. Something within the planet isn't behaving the way that it should. Messing with the star is only going to cause more problems, one way or another. The kernel will let us get to the framework of your planet and take care of it. I don't know if you have any experience with kernels…I certainly don't. Nita does. She's done this. By the time you or I became proficient at it…it might be too late for Wellakh and I am _not_ going to let that happen." She rested her chin on his shoulder, her voice barely above a whisper, but steady as a rock. "I lost you once. That's not happening again."

He reached up to touch the side of her head, his fingers in her hair. "Dhairine," his voice was subdued. "I _am_ the Guarantor. If I have to go into a star again, I will—mine or yours."

She moved away from him. "I understand that. I'm well aware of your job description, Roshaun. I've heard it enough times—I can repeat it front to back and back to front if you'd like. What I'm telling you is that I don't think that's the answer _this_ time. I know maybe next time it will be…but not this time. That's the answer you think is easiest because it's the one you know. I'm giving you another answer, one that isn't quite in either of our grasps but that might be the right one." She lay back on the bed, her hands behind her head as she stared at the ceiling. "It's worth a shot anyway. She can research this week and if she thinks she's got it…we can attempt the intervention by this weekend."

He sighed, and carefully twisting his hair to one side to put it out of the way, lay down next to her. "The Aethyrs did throw you in my path. I suppose the least I could do is have a little faith that They knew what they were doing."

She chuckled, resting her head against his chest and lowering her arms to her sides. "It's not just me they threw in your path, Roshaun. Nita's my sister. She's always going to be my sister—and she happens to be a talented wizard. We go together. And for whatever reason…Kit goes with Nita. They're a package deal." She snickered to herself, remembering a very long time ago it seemed how much of a pity it was that her sister had dibs on Kit. She looked up at Roshaun, lying next to her. No way in hell she'd trade.

"What are you thinking? I'm not sure I trust that smile…"

Dairine shook her head. "Just a little comparison. Don't worry, you won."

There was a knock on the slightly open door and Dairine could see Nita standing there. "We need to talk, Dari."

She frowned. "I'm busy. Go get a boyfriend or a dog or something. Come see me in an hour."

Nita folded her arms, standing against the frame. "We need to talk about Millman's office."

Dairine rolled over so she was facing Roshaun's chest completely, her back to her sister. She did _not_ want to deal with this right now. If she explained everything to Nita, she'd have to explain everything to her dad and there'd be a lot of arguing and it'd be exceptionally hard to get anything done this week. "Go away. I'm not talking about it right now."

"Dari, you're going to have to face me eventually."

Her voice was muffled. "Eventually isn't here yet. Let's schedule eventually for sometime next week."

Roshaun wrapped a protective arm around Dairine, who so seldom seemed to need any protection. He gave Nita a look. Nita raised her hands in a gesture of surrender as she left. She'd try again, but not tonight. His arms around her, he let one hand stray into her hair. They lay there in silence for a long time, breathing, the occasion comment passing from mind to mind.

* * *

When Nita got back to her room, she had a response in her manual from Aunt Annie. She was surprised—she had figured her aunt would be asleep at this hour. She tapped a few symbols of the Speech in her manual. "Aunt Annie?"

Her aunt's voice came floating back to her. "I'm here. Having a bit of a late night. One of the mares just gave birth—it was a difficult delivery—the last of the staff have finally gone home for the night."

It was a selfish waste of energy with entropy loose in the world…but she wanted this. It wasn't the sort of thing she'd feel comfortable going up the street and talking to Tom and Carl about. "Could we do this face to face? I'll help with the dishes." She knew if the staff had been there all evening helping with the delivery there'd undoubtedly be a mountain of dishes waiting in the sink.

"Come into the yard, the back door is unlocked."

Nita scribbled a note for her dad and left it on the bed in case he came in to wish her goodnight while she was gone. She found the coordinates she needed and went. She breathed hard for a few minutes before straightening up and going inside. "Aunt Annie!"

There was her aunt, looking the way she'd always looked, sitting at the table with a cup of tea. Several cats were milling around the kitchen expectantly. "I just put the water on for more. You might have to make do with a glass though—all the mugs and teacups are in the sink." Nita hugged her and sat down next to her. "So what brought you over an ocean to chat with me in the middle of the night?"

Nita hedged around the question, getting up to head to the sink, thinking this might be easier if she wasn't looking at her aunt. She wasn't sure where to start. "I'll take some of the dishes off your mind." She started working on the teacups.

"Must be big if you're bribing me with clean dishes. Thinking about Mars?"

Nita shook her head. It seemed she'd practically forgotten Mars tonight. "Not at all actually. I might be going off-planet to Wellakh to help Dairine soon with Wellakh's kernel. I don't know how much you've seen in the manual but I've been getting a lot of practice with those. I'm over here for a more generic wizardry related question."

"One you didn't want to bring to Tom and Carl," her aunt observed.

She tried to keep her face from going red. It was too late to turn back now. She was going to ask what she came in to ask about. "I know you told me you worked most of your wizardry alone, but, I mean, is it common for wizards who have partners to become romantically involved with thm?" She put down her second cup and picked up another.

Her aunt was silent for a while. "You're not going to like this, Nita, but if you're old enough to ask, you're old enough to be told. Most adult wizards I know _don't_ work with partners. It seems to be the exception rather than the rule. Our work—especially here in Ireland—frequently ends up being team work, but it's rare to have one partner you always work with, particularly as you get older. Most aren't in permanent partnerships and I'd say less than half of the wizards in permanent partnerships become romantically involved. It seems to me that a lot of wizards don't have serious romantic relationships. In my experience, it's hard to know what to say to someone who isn't one, always having to hide that part of your life. And if you feel comfortable enough to tell them…their response isn't always what you were hoping for. I think two wizards have a better chance of making things work than a wizard and a non-wizard, but..." She shook her head as if remembering something that hurt, a wound that healed but left a scar. "Life grows and changes as it is wont to do, and it is rare that two people really continue to grow and change in compatible ways for the entirety of their lives."

Nita continued washing teacups and spoons as she listened. "When it does happen though…does it change anything? The romance I mean."

"_Life is change_. That's just the way it is. We are as the One made us and we're made to grow and change. If we're lucky, the people we love grow and change with us." Annie Callahan sighed, getting up and taking care of the whistling tea kettle, pouring Nita's tea into one of the damp but clean teacups. "If not, you grow apart. I've done a lot of that. The wizard I worked with in college and I grew apart. My husband and I grew apart. It happens. You start seeing the world in different ways. There are as many ways to see the world as there are eyes to see it." She sighed again. "Are you worried about Dairine and Roshaun?"

Nita burst out laughing. "I have a feeling that the things I do worry about concerning Dari aren't the usual worries big sisters have, and the usual ones haven't crossed my mind yet." Besides, Dari and Roshaun hadn't been working together that long…Nita never thought Dairine would be the type to work with a partner. She was still laughing a little, shaking her head. The only word she managed to get out clearly was "Kit."

Annie made as if to put a comforting arm over her niece's shoulders. Nita was still sweet on Kit and was still hoping he'd reciprocate…she tried to think of the most tactful way to break it to her neice. "Sweetie, that might never hap—"

"It did, Aunt Annie."

Her aunt chose her next words carefully. "What _did_ exactly?"

Nita shrugged a little helplessly. "Kissing…doesn't seem to be affecting anything. We'd both been warned recently that if we kept being in denial about how we felt about each other, it would screw with our wizardry. How you feel about people is part of who you are…don't describe yourself accurately in a spell...How's the saying go? Believe something and the world is on its way to being changed because you believe it." A voice long in the past, early in her practice whispered in her memory _That's what makes the Starsnuffer so dangerous. However he justifies it to himself, he absolutely believes he is right. And belief is a dangerous weapon._ "We finally came out and told each other the truth…that we couldn't imagine not being in each other's lives and that there was one more way we weren't involved and we'd been thinking about getting involved that way." She gave a wry smile. "Now we are I guess." She frowned, remembering that she needed to talk to Dairine about the GED and her long term plans. "I just wanted to tell you about it…and to ask if there was anything you thought I should know." She groaned. "Dating. I haven't done this. And it's kind of like we skipped the dating phase I think. We're in a relationship—whether or not that relationship included a romantic part, we have an existing relationship. I'm happy so far. I just don't know what to do or what to say. Do you just go around and tell your family, 'oh by the way, this guy who I've been closer than close with for the last three years, we're getting romantically involved'? Or do you just let them find out? We're not doing anything that we need to be 'safe' about, so don't worry about that. Dad doesn't know yet. Or Dari. I woke up this morning and the only person I could think to talk to about it was my shrink. That sounds so unnatural, doesn't it?"

Aunt Annie laughed. "Nothing about this situation is normal. Rarely is anything in this life what we would like to think of as normal. You haven't even talked to Dairine?"

Nita shook her head, getting back to the dishes as they talked—teacups and mugs and spoons slowly made their way out of the sink and onto the dish drainer. "No, though it crossed my mind that she's in a similar situation and might have something useful to say. I just wasn't up to tackling her yet. Dairine has enough on her plate right now. I think she's still trying to mentally digest the fact that she asked me for help today. She formally requested my assistance in her intervention on Wellakh. She's freaked."

"Can't blame her on the count, Nita. Life has been pretty traumatic lately."

Nita sipped her tea and worked her way through a few more teacups before settling at the table. "Do you know any wizards who've relocated permanently from one planet to another?"

"I can't think of any examples off hand of wizards I know from a planet like ours where wizardry is secret that it's happened, though I'm sure it has. It's not unheard of for relocations to occur in planets where wizardry is practiced openly."

Nita wrinkled her nose. Her tea had gone cold. "I think Dairine's planning to jump ship. I tried to confront her on it tonight. It looks like she's making preparations to try and go without raising too many flags…but people who know her or our family will wonder, and she's a minor which makes all sorts of other difficulties."

Annie just shook her head. "All you can do right now is keep an eye on her and offer the best advice you can, and listen if she decides to speak. If she's seriously considering it…odds are the Powers have been nudging her. Like when you got blown into Ireland."

She chuckled, remembering Ronan's anger at having blow-ins from the States taking care of what he felt was an Irish problem. "Every time she comes back from Wellakh, it seems like she's more and more reluctant to be home. She's being drawn there and is finding work there. I think the boyfriend is just a bonus." She shook her head. "I'll be checking the situation out by this weekend I think, maybe earlier. I'd like to be able to try and work on the kernel by this weekend—maybe go in earlier to try and get a sense of what the situation is. A lot of information opened up in my manual tonight since I agreed to the intervention and I haven't had time to really look it over yet."

Try as she might, Annie failed to stifle her yawn. It was after two in the morning locally.

"Crud. I'm sorry, I forgot about the time difference, you must be totally run down." Nita took her cup to the sink, washing it along with several others rather quickly. "I'll finish cleaning up in here if you want to go to bed, Aunt Annie. I didn't mean to stay so long."

"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of them when I wake up. Goodnight and let me know if I can do anything for you or if you just need to talk…"

Nita smiled gratefully and went outside as if to teleport home. She gave it ten minutes for Aunt Annie to be settled in for bedtime and went back and finished all the dishes before heading home. It'd be a nice surprise for her aunt when she woke up. Nita spent the rest of her time before bed starting her reading about Wellakh.

* * *

Harry Callahan was readying himself for bed. He'd gotten Nita's note about going out, and went knocked on Dairine's door. There was no answer and after a second knock he pushed it open. He fumed at the sight of his youngest daughter asleep and curled up next to the tall, long haired humanoid king. He sighed. From the looks of things, it didn't look as though they'd been up to anything. They were just asleep, on top of the covers, neither hair nor clothing mussed up. Roshaun's arm was protectively around Dairine, as though trying to shield her from anything that might come in.

He missed waking up with Betty in his arms, falling asleep listening to her breathe. Now he slept alone. He was certain that he'd never quite get used to it. It seemed unnatural not to have that presence in his bed, hogging the blankets, curling up next to him… It took a great deal of self-control, but he walked away, closing the door behind him. He'd have a word with Roshaun in the morning. Several words. For right now…he'd let them sleep.

* * *

Nita was downstairs making Poptarts when Kit knocked on the front door to come walk with her to school. He stared for a minute in the doorway. His eyes were drawn to flesh that seemed to so rarely see sunlight underneath her jeans. "Is that the skirt from Monday?"

She'd paired the skirt with a modest top. For some reason when she'd woken up and was poking around her room for something to wear, it seemed like a good idea. It was supposed to be a stiflingly hot day, so close to summer. Now that she was actually standing in front of him, she wasn't so sure it was such a bright idea. She tried hard not to blush. "Yeah. I just thought…" She didn't know what she was thinking. "Does it look alright? Help yourself, Poptarts should be up in a minute. I'm going to go upstairs and change into jeans."

He took her hand, stopping her from turning to go up the stairs. "Don't. Looks good on you."

She looked at him doubtfully. "You sure?"

"_Positive_, Neets." He walked past her into the kitchen, adding over his shoulder, "I might have to knock a few guys' eyeballs out…but really, they probably don't need them and won't want them after they've fallen on the floor after seeing you in that." He juggled the Poptarts out of the toaster as they came up onto a plate and put another set in for himself, handing Nita the first plate.

"Morning, Kit, Neets," Nita's dad greeted them, as he came out of his room tying his tie. "Have you seen Roshaun or Dairine yet? I need to talk to them about something."

Nita shook her head. "Not since last night, but I didn't think about going in and waking her up this morning. She's been managing to get out and to school alright on her own lately." _She should be able to at her age._ "Is he going into work with you this morning?"

He finished tying his tie and held still. "I haven't asked him, but I might have him ride in with me. It will give us a chance to talk."

Kit shot Nita an amused glance from over by the toaster. _Why do I have the feeling that when all this comes out…he's going to want to _talk _to me too?_

_ You want to get it over with _now_?_

_ I'll let Roshaun take the heat today. I'm sure I'll get my turn_, he replied. It was not exactly a conversation he'd be looking forward to—the usual death threats that went along with dating a man's daughter. Not that Kit had ever heard them before, but he could guess—if you break her heart, I will break every bone in your body. His pop had certainly had a good number of the usual threats ready for his sisters' boyfriends.

Nita's dad drank his coffee, standing around, agitated, as though waiting for something. He wasn't sure he could bring himself to go knock on the door of his daughter's room. Not this morning. He couldn't do it. He sighed. "Nita, will you go bang on your sister's door?"

Nita was just about done with her first Poptart and put the last bite in her mouth. She thought better of protesting and went upstairs, calling out, "Dari, you're going to be late for school!" She heard the thump of movement and swearing, though she was only just barely at the top of the stairs. Satisfied that the runt would be downstairs at her usual breakneck speed, Nita went back down to the kitchen. "She should be down in a minute."

There was a little pop of displaced air and Spot appeared on the kitchen table, all his eye stalks looking around as though he was on a reconnaissance mission. "Tell him I want a word with him," Nita's dad told the sentient computer, quietly enough that neither Kit nor Nita caught the words. The computer blinked out of sight without responding.

Dairine ran down the stairs, her backpack over one shoulder, still wearing yesterday's clothes. "Forgot to set my alarm." She looked through the fridge for some fruit she could eat in a hurry.

Kit and Nita made their escape, figuring it was best not to be present for the mandatory you-break-my-daughter's-heart-and-I-_will_-break-_you_ speech, no matter how amusing the sight of Roshaun getting lectured by Nita's dad might be. Come to think of it, where was Roshaun? He wasn't on the couch… "I wonder if Mr. Sun-King worldgated home last night to sleep in his own bed."

"With such a comfortable couch, why would he ever go back to his palace?" Kit laughed. "What do you think about the intervention?"

"I don't know. I fell asleep reading the manual last night. Wellakh's got a rough history. It doesn't surprise me that Roshaun's got that tough as nails thing down pat—I think you'd have to in order to be in his place and survive there."

"If you've got to be tough as nails to get along there…Dairine will fit in great." He tilted his head to the side. "Not so sure about you."

She jabbed him with her elbow.

"You're too nice…'cept of course when you're kicking Lone Power's immortal butt. Or hitting me. Isn't that domestic abuse?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Want me to kiss it better?"

* * *

Mr. Callahan was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking his second cup of coffee when Roshaun came down the stairs only a few moments after Nita and Kit left. Roshaun stood with his hands behind his back as if at attention, in front of Dhairine's father. "Roshaun, I like to think of myself as a good father. I have two daughters and this has been a hard year for all of us." He looked around as if the kitchen would supply the words he needed. None were forthcoming. "You care about her a lot, don't you?"

"I care for Dhairine a great deal." Roshaun was subdued, unsure of where the conversation was going. "Sir…"

He held up his hand. "Roshaun, Dairine is only barely fourteen. You're older than she is. I don't want you pressuring her into _anything_. I know you spent last night in her room. I've made you welcome in my home. I understand that Dairine has what she feels are obligations to perform on Wellakh and that she will be spending a great deal of time away from here. I don't expect to be taken advantage of."

"I assure you, sir, I doubt even the Isolate could make Dhairine do anything against her will. I had no intention of spending the night there. We were talking and fell asleep. I am extremely sorry."

He rubbed his temples, unsure of how to say any of the many things nebulously clustered in his mind at the moment. He had always expected to be talking to a boyfriend of Nita's long before one of Dairine's. Then again Dairine had always been a precocious child. Not all the Star Wars reading in the world could have prepared him for the possibility that his daughter might end up dating an alien prince. "Come into the shop with me."

The Wellakhit King got in the car, conscious that he was still wearing yesterday's clothes, and sat rigidly in the passenger seat. "No need to be so stiff, Roshaun. I'm not taking you to be executed." He glanced at the boy as he shifted lanes. "It sounds like Dairine will be spending a lot of time on your planet. Are your parents oaky with that?"

"My parents are quite taken with her," he replied, bemused. "I often wonder if they enjoy her company more than mine. Some days, I am certain that they do."

Mr. Callahan couldn't help laughing. "That's good to hear. Dairine can be something of an acquired taste. I want you to promise me that you'll do everything within your power to protect her, Roshaun."

"Sir, I will do as I have done since I met her. Dhairine will not be harmed in any way I can prevent." He stared at the ceiling of the car, off to one side, right where the sun was overhead. He could feel it strongly. "Dhairine brings out the best in me. My parents and I have both noticed changes in my manner of being since I became acquainted with her—changes that appear to be for the better."

He pulled into his parking space near the shop and turned the car off, but didn't get out. "I know there are things that the two of you need to take care of on your home planet but…_this_ is Dairine's planet. She does have a life to live here. I don't want to see her miss it."

There was no reply to that, no way to explain that maybe Dairine was belonged on another planet, that maybe this one wasn't right for her. The silence hung in the air for some minutes.

* * *

Roshaun went back to the house around lunchtime. Mr. Callahan had offered to drive him home, but he knew the way, he could walk. He mulled over a number of things in his mind. He wanted Dhairine on Wellakh with him. The Aethyrs seemed to want Dhairine on Wellakh with him. He was certain that whatever problems her absence from Earth might cause locally they could be dealt with…

He felt around in his pocket for the key that he'd been given shortly after his arrival, but to his annoyance, found that he had not put it in his pocket. He had been rather distracted this morning with the realization that he was going to be having a long and uncomfortable conversation with Dhairine's father. All the same, it could have gone worse. He said a few words to the lock in the Speech and stepped inside.

He'd take the time while Dhairine was at school to return home briefly, and make arrangements for Nita and Kit's stay and see how things were getting on at the Sun Palace. He descended into the basement and activated the worldgate, stepping through and appearing in his own rooms. He couldn't help noticing that, for the first time, they seemed too large. They were no bigger than normal…they just felt different. He charged that perception as having been the fault of having spent the last few days in such a small domicile.

He shed the shirt, tie, and slacks belonging to Dhairine's father and picked out an outfit from his wardrobe, making sure he was presentable before emerging from his rooms and seeking out his mother to inform her of the incoming guests. It took only a few inquiries before he found her in the gardens.

"_Tekeh_, I had not expected you to return so soon."

He raised his mother's hands to his forehead in greeting. "I am only back for a short time. I wanted to assess the situation here. Has anything changed?"

She shook her head, sighing. "The wizards who went looking for water below the surface have had little luck in finding any springs of which we were previously unaware. All that can be done at this point is to caution people to use what we have now wisely."

He reached out and touched one of the red leaves of the bush beside him. It was brittle. "We have called in some auxiliary assistance. Dhairine's elder sister is an experienced wizard with sufficient knowledge of world kernels that she may be able to greatly assist our efforts here in finding and ending the cause of the drought. She and her partner should be here in a few days' time for the intervention."

Lady Miril nodded, examining her son with a mother's careful eye, as though checking to see that he hadn't taken any injury in his absence, had been eating right and getting enough sleep, and anything else that might go wrong. "I'll see to it that rooms are ready for them. Dhairine's is ready and only awaits her arrival. Have you been to see your father yet?"

He shook his head. "Not yet. I was going to wait and return with Dhairine when she's finished _school_." He said the word almost as though it was a curse.

His mother laughed a little. "She has appearances to maintain in that world, _tekeh_, just as you do in this one. Are you going to tell your people about the intervention?"

"No need to give the Isolate warning to derail it. I will make an appearance before leaving." He knew it was necessary. They didn't like him leaving the planet—he was the Guarantor. If he left the planet, who would save them from the fate their world had suffered once before? "Dhairine, Nita, Kit, and myself will have a conference with father and discuss any assistance he might be able to provide us, directly or indirectly."

She nodded approvingly, and waited for him to say something else.

He suppressed the sigh that was itching to drop from his lips. "I will make a statement, assuring the people that I am hard at work on their behalf, and that they are as always, in my mind." _Whether or not that is in a good way or not_. "Is there anything else that needs attending, Mother?"  
"I'm sure your father has a list."

Roshaun tried not to think of his kingly duties as chores, but they were. He had best find his father and begin to take care of them before heading back.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Not a lot went on in this chapter plot-wise but there were some conversations that I felt needed to happen. The Roshaun and Mr. Callahan conversation felt more like one that would have happened between Kit and Mr. Callahan, but I did try to make it as Roshaun as possible. I still haven't decided how/when to drop the bomb about Nita and Kit on Mr. Callahan. Poor man will never see it coming.

I am proud of myself for relatively quick updates and I'm trying for longer chapters. I'd really love to see some feedback, so please review. Am I going off the deepend here, or do you think I'm on the right track?


	10. Thursday

_**In the Closet**_

_Disclaimer: The characters in question belong to Diane Duane. I own only the plot._

**Chapter 10: Thursday

* * *

**

When Nita walked through the door, Roshaun was on the couch, half asleep apparently. He gave a most inelegant groan as the door opened and light flooded into the room. She squinted. "You okay? You need some aspirin?"

He sat up, rubbing his temples. "I returned to my home-world to take care of a few things in preparation for the upcoming intervention. Speaking with the Sun-King-That-Was frequently takes much more energy than it ought. I will recover."

Nita stifled a chuckle. Even aliens had a hard time talking to their parents. "I'm going upstairs to get some reading done. Shout if you need anything. Dairine will probably come barreling through the door shortly."

"Don't forget to make ready for our transit tomorrow. Dairine and I intend to leave as soon as you are free from school. Inform Kit."

Nita rolled her eyes. She knew tomorrow was Friday and that they'd be going. "Any particular supplies I'll need?"

Roshaun looked at her rather levelly, quite a trick for someone sitting down on the couch looking up at someone on the stairs. "You're the expert kernel-hunter."

"It's your planet."

He shook his head once. "Nothing in particular. All of your physical needs can be provided for at the palace—my mother is seeing to it that rooms are prepared for yourself and for Kit. You know your own needs regarding the wizardry necessary to locating and altering Wellakh's kernel." He stood up, his body tense. "I shall be in the backyard. I need to feel the sun on my skin." _Wellakh will not fall while I stand Sun-Watch. Whether the Isolate choose to attack through Thalis or other means…it will not fall._

Nita went down the stairs, wandering into the kitchen. She'd double check the spells on her charm bracelet tonight; maybe she'd adjust the particular spells since she wouldn't be operating in her usual territory. She picked up the phone in the kitchen and dialed the Rodriguez house.

"Hello?"

"Hey, 'Mela, it's Nita. Kit home yet?"

"No, not yet…you haven't called to talk to him on the phone in ages. Telepathy not working?"

She snorted. "No, just thought I'd do this the old fashioned way. It's not exactly great manners to go crash someone's brain uninvited. Do you know if he told your parents about this weekend yet?"

Carmela made a confused sound. "This weekend?"

She resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. "Great…waiting to tell your parents at the last minute that he's going out of town on Business."

"How long? Where to? Can I come?"

Nita could hear faintly in the background a vexed voice. "Carmela, if you're talking to Nita, _no_ you may not come. We've got a world to save."

She whined into the phone. "But I'm so good at it! And I've got plenty of practice with the curling iron now."

There was a brief scuffle as Kit wrestled the phone away from his sister. "Neets?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm still here. You didn't tell your parents yet?"

"Pop was cross when he got home last night. Glaring typo on the front page that somehow nobody had caught…Anyway, I'll tell them tonight."

"You'd better. Roshaun says he and Dairine want to leave right after school tomorrow."

He juggled the phone onto his shoulder, going to the fridge for a sandwich. "Of course they do."

"It's not a bad idea though. I've never been there and it might take me a while to find the kernel. Unless something catastrophic goes down, we've got to be back here by Monday for school."

He groaned.

She snickered, but the snicker had a little sympathy in it. "I know. At least the gating is subsidized."

"I want to come!" Carmela shouted, picking up the extension.

"No, no, and _no_," Kit said, glaring at his sister across the room. "You can't come. Go call Ireland and bother Ronan or something."

"I can't call him while you're on the phone, _El Niño_."

"Then get off the line and let me finish, 'Mela." Kit turned his attention back to the receiver. "I'll tell them during dinner. Any supplies I should bring?"

"Just the usual spells. Roshaun couldn't think of anything specifically to bring—said that we'll be staying in the Palace. I think we ought to have the puptents just in case we're out on the planet and have to stop for the night somewhere."

"Yeah. A little food and some clothes. I know the drill."

She shifted on her feet. She was ready to get out of this skirt and into some comfortable jeans. "So you'll talk to your parents, and I'll talk to my dad tonight. Can you come straight home with me after school tomorrow, or are you going to have to stop off at your place?"

"I can put the stuff I want in my backpack in my claudication so I can come straight from school. No worries."

"I'm only planning on throwing some blankets in the puptent—not hauling my bed in or anything."

"Yeah. Got ya. Just an emergency situation."

"Exactly. No sense moving furniture for a couple of nights. I've got a ton of reading to get done before tomorrow."

"Same here. I haven't looked at hardly anything about Wellakh yet. I'll stop by before school again."

Nita hung up. She knew she had hours and hour of reading ahead of her, on both Wellakh and kernels. There was always more to learn about any subject…you just had to look for it. She had a lot of cramming to do.

* * *

Dinner was just winding down when Nita decided to bring up the weekend's excursion to her dad. However, he brought it up first. "Dairine, Roshaun, how has that spell you've been working on this week been going?"

"Actually, it hasn't. It was a dead end, we came up with an alternative," Dairine said. She shot Nita a look as if to say, "Your cue!"

Nita swallowed the bite of chicken in her mouth. "It looks like we might know how to fix the drought. I need to go with Dairine and Roshaun this weekend, Daddy. I've got experience dealing with the type of wizardry that we're going to need on this…and they don't. If it's alright, I was going to leave right after school tomorrow. The sooner I get there, the longer I have to get a feel for what I need to fix. There's a good chance I'll be gone all weekend."

He gazed across the table at her. "So you're effectively not asking me if you can dart around the galaxy…you're telling me that you need to for the good of the universe."

She looked at him. "Daddy, I'm still asking, but I also know you understand that I _need_ to do this or there could be problems with major repercussions. If someone without experience and practice tried to intervene with a world's kernel they could screw things up pretty badly. If we wait for Dairine or Roshaun to get that kind of experience…it might be too late for Wellakh." The drought was ongoing, but wasn't critical yet. However, tempers were running high and it would only be so long before some sort of chaos on the planet broke out, probably including an assassination attempt. Of course, if the Lone Power had any influence—which he always had his foothold somewhere—the sun would choose right about then to flare and probably turn the live side of the planet to slush and slag like the current burned side. She shook her head. She was not going to let that happen.

"Is Kit going with you?"

Nita was thrown aback. She wasn't expecting that question. "He's talking to his parents right now, but he should be."

Mr. Callahan nodded. "He's got a good head on his shoulders. He'll keep an eye out for you."

She stared at him. "Daddy, are you saying I can't take care of myself?"

"I know you can. But I like to know that you've got reliable back up. The two of you have kept good eyes on each other so far. I feel better knowing he's out there with you."

_Oh, Powers, _she thought. _Is he going to feel so good about it when he finds out Kit and I are dating?_ "I can ask right now if you want." She felt around for him in her mind, making a tentative connection. He was eating dinner with his family.

Mr. Callahan leaned forward with his forearms on the table, waving one hand. "Don't disturb the family at dinner. Roshaun, are your parents okay with this?"

"Arrangements have been made for places for Nita and Kit to stay if they are able to accompany Dhairine and myself on this intervention."

"Have you talked to Tom and Carl?"'

"I left a message for them in my manual. The information I needed has appeared, so whatever authorization I needed came through from somewhere."

He frowned, wanting to make sure all of his bases were covered. "What about your homework?"

"There's not that much, and I'll bring it with me. And I'll do my chores when I get home."

"Dairine…"

"Homework and chores. Got it," she said blithely, wondering when she'd have the time. She had an entire planet's government to rearrange. It seemed so much more important than biology homework.

"I'll give Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez a call after dinner. Go work on your homework and pack. Do you need me to go to the store and get any granola bars or anything?"

Nita grinned at her dad. "Have I told you lately you're fantastic?"

"Not today…and I can always stand to hear it again. Make a list—I've got to go to the grocery store anyway. You too, Dairine."

* * *

Kit had packed up his pup tent. He looked at the corner where can after can of dog food had been stacked from his previous excursions with Ponch. He took them out, putting them in the kitchen for Abernathy. He wouldn't have Ponch around to "walk" him out of trouble this time. He glanced around the tent. He had water bottles, a couple jars of peanut butter, bread, a knife, some fruit, beef jerky, and an assortment of other foods. His clothes were piled in one corner. He had just remembered to take the dirty clothes out of here yesterday from the last time he'd used this thing. He had piled blankets and a pillow in another corner.

When he had told his parents he needed to go away this weekend, his pop had rolled his eyes and his mama had asked if there was any way he could put it off 'til the school year was over, after all exams _were_ coming up. He went into the specifics of the situation—that there was a planet that needed saving, and after all, wasn't it better for school if he saved it this weekend, rather than , say, Wednesday? They made light of the situation, but he still knew his parents weren't totally at ease with off-planet excursions. It was really remarkable that they handled everything as well as they did. "It's not as if I'm going on a weekend camp out on the moon. This is a _job_ and it needs doing." A weekend campout on the moon! _There_ was an idea that sounded like fun. He and Neets could up with Ronan and Darryl and get to have fun for a couple of days. Or maybe just him and Neets. If only they actually could do that. It'd take a fair amount of power…

* * *

By the time Nita went to bed, she'd managed to put granola bars, lemon soda, water, toilet paper, blankets, a pillow, a flashlight, and even her math textbook in her pup tent. She tossed in a couple of pairs of jeans and a few t-shirts, and clean socks and underwear, as well as an old pair of sneakers so that she'd have spare shoes. She was rightly a little nervous—most of her work had been with the kernels of people, not planets. She felt like with a planet, there was a whole lot more that could go wrong, for so many more people. Wellakh was not a small planet. She might make the air un-breathable or turn the ground to jelly. And she had to figure out what exactly she was asking the planet for. She needed it to be hospitable. Where was the water going? Drying up on the surface? Drying up below ground?

She rubbed her temples.

* * *

**Author's Note:** The chapter is short, yes, but the next chapter is well under way and it's longer. I'd really appreciate some feedback, so please review! I miss you guys…


	11. An Expected Arrival

_**In the Closet**_

_Disclaimer: The characters in question belong to Diane Duane. I own only the plot._

**Author's Note: **Here's a nice long chapter for you. I know a lot didn't happen in the last chapter; as someone pointed out, the last chapter was mostly filler, a way to get from point A to point B. I feel like things are progressing more in this chapter and I'm really excited to hear about your feedback. A useful link for this chapter will be found in the author's note at the bottom of the chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 11: An Expected Arrival**

**

* * *

**When the school day came to a close, Kit was waiting outside Nita's classroom as she came out, zipping her backpack. "Dairine's probably halfway home by now," he said, leaning against the wall. His backpack was slung over one shoulder.

"Already? The bell just rung. I've got to hit my locker."

"She practically catapulted out of here." He rolled his eyes. "I don't know why—it's not like she and Roshaun are going to leave without us."

Nita grabbed what she needed from her locker, ditching the books that had no homework this weekend, thinking maybe Dairine didn't want to be grilled by her on the way home. It was a reasonable explanation for ducking out early. "Maybe they want some time to make out before going home to his parents. I'm sure he has to behave there."

"Yeah, he's got a whole planet looking over his shoulder at what he's doing. And I thought two sisters and my parents were bad enough…"

She chuckled. "And now you've got my dad and Dairine to worry about too when it comes down to it."

They passed through the gate side by side. "You got everything you need in your tent?"

"Yeah. All set to go. You?"

She nodded affirmation.

Kit reached for her hand, only half aware he was doing so. "Has she told you anything about the place?"

Nita made a noncommittal sound. "Nng. You know Dairine. No one ever hears about anything from her. I don't know a lot of details besides what's in the manual. The political situation is really bad, and it kind of sets the tone for the wizardry. There's a lot of pressure on Roshaun's family. When things go bad, it looks like the populace takes it out on whoever's in charge, and hopes the next one in line might learn from their predecessor's mistake."

He let out a low whistle. "I don't think I'd want to be Roshaun."

She nodded grimly. "And that's where my sister would rather be than here…charming thought, isn't it?"

Kit shook his head. "She never did like, little kid puzzles as a kid did she? I bet she started out with the 500 piece one and did it without looking at the box."

Nita snickered opening the door. Dairine had a duffle bag by her feet and was impatiently pacing back and forward in front of the couch. She'd probably been staring at the door since she got home. Roshaun gave the impression of lounging, three pieces of his luggage nearby, but the intensity around his eyes told the true story. He was anxious to start for home, though whether it was a good anxious or a bad anxious, Nita couldn't tell.

Dairine's head snapped up and caught Nita and Kit with her stare. "Ready to go?"

Nita rolled her eyes at her sister. "Impatient. Did you take the trash out?"

"Yeah, _Dad_."

"Make your bed?"

"I did everything at lunch. I rushed home." _Teleported home from the girls' bathroom really…_

"Alright. Let me just grab a bottle of water and I'm all set." Nita took a few minutes to go into the kitchen, leaving a note for her dad, telling him they were taking off, and marking the time at the bottom. She grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and went back to the living room. She slung her backpack back on her back. Dairine was bouncing on the balls of her feet, her backpack on her back, Spot cradled in one arm, and the duffle bag on the other shoulder. Kit had his backpack on still, and was looking amused. Roshaun's luggage was hovering behind him. "All set?"

"Just waiting on you."

Kit locked the front door, and the troop made their way down to the basement where the World Gate hung on the wall. "Where does the other end come out?"

"We will emerge in my personal chambers. Originally we had thought to set the arrival point to Dhairine's rooms, however I don't know what staff come and out of there…" He tilted his head. "This made far more sense. No one is going to stick their noses somewhere they don't belong in my personal chambers. I will depart first." He activated the gate and disappeared with his baggage.

"You have your own room there?" Nita muttered.

"Yeah. And I forgot to tell you, female wizards are kind of a big deal on Wellakh. They're rare." She stepped through the gate.

She made an irritated sound. "I wonder what else she's forgotten to tell me."

Kit grinned in that too cheerful way. "Probably something deadly serious, life or death important." He took her hand, "Let's go." They stepped through and found themselves in a lush room with carpets, couches, and wardrobes. One vanity stood out in particular with a large number of gilded hairbrushes. "Where's Roshaun?"

Dairine was sitting on a couch with Spot in her lap. She'd discarded her duffle and backpack on the floor. "He's behind the screen over there changing." She raised her voice and directed her question towards the screen. "Do we need to find something for them to wear?"

Roshaun came out from behind the screen half-dressed, scrutinizing the earthlings' appearance.

Nita assessed his upper body favorably for half a moment. Kit frowned at the king, not liking his scrutiny. "I didn't exactly bring a tie and slacks. No one told me to. All I put in my tent were things like jeans and t-shirts. This is about as good as it gets, unless you want me to go back home and bring something."

Dairine stood up. "They'll have to stay the way they are right now for the first meeting. They can change before dinner if we need them to."

"They _will _have to change for dinner. If my judgment is sound, my father probably invited wizards and members of his council this evening. Hurry, Dhairine."

Dairine picked up her bags and led the way to her rooms, not far from Roshaun's. As they walked in, she said, "You can set the bags down anywhere. Things never stay put for very long. Somebody always comes by to straighten the place up, whether or not it needs it. Sit anywhere, I've got to change." Nita sat down on the bed, surprised, watching Dairine rifle through a dresser drawer, pulling out something to wear. She started to say something. Aggravated, the redhead looked down at her sister. "This is _my_ room, Nita. If it's in here…not only am I _allowed_ to wear it, I'm _supposed_ to wear it." She went into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. It was only a matter of about a minute before she yelled, "Laugh at your own risk of bodily harm!" and opened the door. She was wearing a gauzy, off the shoulder top in sage green with matching pants that seemed almost to float around her, looking loose and comfortable. A large green emerald was at her throat on a chain made of the Speech. Nita wondered at where that had come from, but didn't ask. Had that been the bulge under her sister's shirts that she noticed some days? She sat on the couch, lacing up her sandals. She didn't look up, but informed Nita, "You'll be wearing something like this later probably."

Kit didn't bother trying to fight his grin, and Nita elbowed him for it. "What? I bet you could pull it off…"

There was a knock at the door.

"Roshaun? Come in."

Roshaun was dressed more formally than Nita or Kit had ever seen him, in his long over-tunic and jewel studded pants. Most of him was clothed in a dull orange. His boots looked soft and were a sage green matching Dairine's clothes. He wore the Sun-stone on a collar at his throat. "Are you dressed?"

Dairine rolled her eyes. "No, I'm standing here naked, as you can see. If were naked, I wouldn't have told you to come in."

Kit whispered to Nita, "If he thought she was naked, maybe he wouldn't have knocked."

Nita choked on her laughter, trying to stifle it.

"If you two are ready, we shall depart. My father does not like to be kept waiting." His voice had a tinge of ice to it.

Self-conscious of their earth clothing as they walked behind Dairine and Roshaun in their Wellakhit garb, Nit and Kit followed them to the throne room. The sheer enormity of the place was a little boggling, not to mention the décor. She wondered if maybe she and Kit_ should_ have changed into Wellakhit clothing straight off. Here they were in clothes in which they'd walked to and from school in nearly summer heat, sweaty and out of place. As wizards meeting another wizard it shouldn't have mattered, but it seemed a lot of things on Wellakh that shouldn't be, _were_, and things that should be, _weren't_. Maybe these standards of what should or shouldn't be, what was or wasn't normal, just needed to be chucked out the window. It didn't seem that anything fit properly in those categories anyway.

The man and woman at the end of the hall could only be Roshaun's parents. His dad's hair was red, close to the color of Dairine's hair. He was even taller than Roshaun, and his wife wasn't much shorter. Roshaun greeted his mother with some sort of hands to the forehead gesture, and she greeted Dairine the same way. Nita and Kit hung back a few paces, watching.

Kit slipped her a sidelong glance. _Feeling out of place, Neets?_

She gave the slightest nod.

_Me too. No worries. We'll adjust._

"This is Nita ke Khallahan, and Kit Rodriguez. Nita is Dhairine's sister. Kit is her constant companion in wizardly endeavors. May I present Nelaid ke Seriv am Teliuyve am Meseph am Veliz am Teriaunst am Antev det Nuiiliat, the Sunlord-That-Was, and my mother Miril am Miril Dev il Nuiiliat, Sister of the Sun."

Nita and Kit looked at each other unsure of what sort of greeting was appropriate. They settled on deep nods and the customary greeting of wizards on Errantry. "We're on Errantry and we greet you."

Nelaid nodded, summoning his version of the manual in the palm of his hand. "Indeed. I have read about the entanglements with the Isolate that the Aethyrs have thrown in your paths. You've not come out of them without loss, but you have emerged through them and stand here today before us, offering your services."

Nita flushed a little, annoyed. He was acting as if this were a job interview. This was two wizards on errantry offering assistance where it was needed. She worked hard to keep the scowl off her face and managed it. "We came to help however we can—for Life's name and for Life's sake. I'm experienced at working with kernels. I think we should be able to sort this all out and make whatever adjustments need to be made."

Nelaid looked down at Kit, as if wondering what purpose he was serving here, expecting him to justify his presence on the planet. Not just any planet, but _his_ planet. "And you?"

Kit met his gaze squarely, a good trick for being at least half ahead shorter than him. "I have experience working with Nita, as you know based on your reading. We're partners. I've also worked with Roshaun and Dairine. We'll do whatever we have to in order to make things right here."

"We know you've come a long way and there's a lot that you need to do and see," Roshaun's mother said, interrupting the men. "Roshaun, were you planning to conference in the library or the study?"

"I had thought the study would be more private, unless there's a gathering already there?" He met his father's look. "I think it best not to involve the other wizards on Wellakh until we are certain with what we are dealing. This is a delicate situation and they may not be disposed to accept the help of outsiders until they have tried all else. I fear by that point, it will be too late for outside aid."

There was a tense moment.

"We shall be meeting in my study after dinner if you care to accompany us, Father. I shall expect no one else to be there."

The Sun-King-That-Was had a face of stone. He was giving nothing away.

Lady Miril hardly moved, but seemed to flow between father and son. "Your people will be awaiting you. It won't take long before they are aware of our guests. It's best that they be introduced outright and not speculated upon and gossiped about. I think an audience after dinner would be appropriate."

"I think it should be a team effort. Three Wellakhit, three Earth residents," Dairine said, looking at Lady Miril. "A united front." _Mostly because the populace might freak out if aliens from earth started showing up in increasing numbers…first just me…now me and Nita and Kit._ Things were at too delicate a stage in Wellakh's problems to let unrest get out of hand.

"I shall take our guests to the observation tower," Roshaun stated. He had understood Dairine's reasoning on the united front.

As Lady Miril departed to see about proper Wellakhit clothing for Nita and Kit, Nita figured out who the woman reminded her of. She felt a pang in her chest. Kit could sense the look on her face, the one just below the surface, the look she was fighting with. He'd seen it too. He squeezed her hand. He held it all through the walk to the observation tower with Roshaun and Dairine. When they reached the top of the tower, Dairine put a strong silencing spell around them. "We're covered. That could have gone worse."

Roshaun nodded in agreement. "Hoping that my father had not set up some sort of rendezvous was useless. Evidently they will be present for the meal. Though I am hoping I have succeeded in convincing him to eliminate their presence in our work." He reached for a lollipop in his pocket and pursed his lips tersely a moment, realizing that he had changed clothes and did not have any.

Nita only half listened as Dairine and Roshaun continued to assess how the meeting had gone. _I feel like we ought to be meeting the Wellakhit tonight wearing force fields, Kit_.

Kit's mouth quirked up in a smile. _Maybe Miss Junior Jedi over there will use the force. I bet she's got a really great light saber…_

Nita chuckled. _Where would she hide it in that outfit?_

Kit raised an eyebrow. _Nowhere I wanna know about._

Nita turned her full concentration to the task at hand. She had been half feeling around for it when they climbed the steps to the tower. Now that they were on the roof…this seemed like an ideal place to start feeling for it. No particular direction was calling out to her so she started with the obvious choice—the burned side of the planet. Not too much there to get in the way if it wasn't what she was looking for. She closed her eyes, hands on the stone balustrade. She let the flow of words come in the Speech, sending them out like little tendrils of smoke on the wind, trying to get them to catch her quarry. After a few minutes of trying, and a few more minutes leaning against the wall to rest from the effort, she asked, "Roshaun, who takes care of your planet's kernel?"

Anyone other than Roshaun probably would have asked, "It needs taking care of?" but instead Roshaun attempted to dismiss the question. "It takes care of itself. Wellakh proportionately has a low number of wizards to its overall population. There's little fear that any here might tamper with it."

She crossed her arms, leaning on the wall. "So you've never interacted with it."

He gave her a dismissive look. "Have you ever disturbed earth's kernel?"

"No, but babysitting it isn't _my_ job. It's the Planetary Advisor's job," she said, and thought _With the way wizardry is structured on this planet it should be your job, your father's…_ "What about your dad? Does he have dealings with the kernel?"

Roshaun's face hardened. "My father has never discussed Wellakh's kernel with me. My training focused primarily on controlling Thalis." He fingered the sun-stone at his throat. "The Guarantor sees farther than others…he sees the danger coming from beyond and strikes outward to deflect it before it can lay hands on the people." Roshaun was quoting some of the earliest doctrine he'd been taught.

Kit smiled that too sweet smile. "Meaning your job is to take care of the bad guys before they get here, and if they're already here, you're too late. The problem with that theory is that it doesn't allow for the possibility of danger coming from inside the area you're protecting." _Not exactly un-ironic given the sort of civil war going on between the government and populous…_ Kit added to Nita silently.

She felt that same way. "I'm not immediately sensing it. I don't even have a direction here to work with. Someone should be keeping an eye on it."

Kit stepped between Roshaun and Nita as Roshaun went to open his mouth again. He cut him off. "It doesn't matter what should have been done. What matters is what was done and what we've got to work with here. We need that kernel."

Nita nodded. Kit was right. Scolding Roshaun now over this wasn't going to help matters. He was tough enough to get along with as it was. She flipped open her manual and started looking for other means of detecting the kernel. "I can go into a lucid sleep state tonight and try to find it. I can move more quickly that way—get some sense of direction."

Kit nodded. "I can backstop you, feed you power, whatever you need."

* * *

An hour before dinner, there was a knock on Nita's door and Dairine came in without waiting for her to answer. "We need to go to Roshaun's room. Now."

"Why?" Nita asked, shutting her manual. She had been reading her manual, trying to cram whatever she could about Wellakh in before meeting people.

Dairine tapped her foot, impatient. "There's not a lot of time. You might be expected to dance tonight and you won't have a clue what you're doing. We need to practice. C'mon." Without waiting, she walked out, and Nita had no choice but to follow.

Kit and Roshaun were already in Roshaun's room. "You've been kidnapped too?" Kit chuckled.

"This is not a joking matter. This is a formal banquet with a substantial number of significant guests. It is imperative that neither of you give them any reason to find fault with you." Roshaun was reclining in a lounge chair in a way that was clearly practiced to look casual and just as clearly was _not_ casual.

Kit muttered to Nita. "They're already going to find fault, we're not Wellakhit."

"Formal dinners are frequently accompanied by music. In the event that my father has decided we should dance tonight, you will be expected to dance. Our time is limited, but I shall instruct you to the best of my abilities. The most common commencement dance involves all members of the party. Dhairine has some experience dancing in this fashion and will assist me in demonstrating."

"Hit it, Spot," Dairine called out to her computer, which was on several legs under the vanity. Spot started playing music, a slow but upbeat song, swaying a little on his legs as though he felt compelled to dance too.

Roshaun came to stand in front of Dairine and began his lecture. "At the beginning of the dance, first the man will rise and fetch the woman from her seat. He will bow, and linking arms, they will proceed to dance area and wait, facing one another as the other guests assemble. When all of the guests have assembled, both lines begin to walk towards one another. Palm to palm, you turn." Roshaun and Dairine demonstrated and proceeded to run through as much of the dance as they could.

"This isn't working. We need you guys to do it too," groaned Dairine, running her fingers through her hair.

Before she knew it, Nita was being led off with her arm linked in Roshaun's and they had started the dance. He repeated the steps verbally as they went. Even when she got the steps right, she didn't seem to have any of Dairine's natural grace. She looked a little enviously at Dairine and Kit. Kit didn't know the steps anymore than Nita, but he seemed sure-footed at least, even when he was wrong.

"Stop looking at your feet. If all of your steps are the same size you will always end up in the right place. Look at me," Roshaun instructed.

"Dairine puts up with you being this bossy?" she asked skeptically.

His lips went into a thin, displeased line. "There is work to be done here and if teaching you a few turns of a dance will aid in procuring good faith with my people and my Father, then I should think it is a little enough price to pay." His movements were sure of himself, confident. His motions had a firm grace to them. His head never turned in any way it shouldn't during the dance, but his eyes frequently strayed to Dairine.

* * *

Nita found herself entering the formal dining room with Kit on one side of her, and Roshaun towering over her on the other. After some discussion, appropriate Wellakhit clothing had been chosen and laid out for them. They'd stand out enough, as they were aliens on this planet. The best path seemed to be to show that they weren't planning on being terribly intrusive, and could adapt to their host's way of doing things. Nita couldn't help but think of the irony. Was there anything _more_ intrusive you could do to a planet than messing with its kernel?

She looked slantways at Kit next to her. She was wearing an outfit similar to Dairine's but in a sort of sky blue color. Kit's outfit mimicked Roshaun's but with far fewer glimmering jewels on it, and in a darkish blue color that suited him. Dairine and Roshaun were dressed to do Life honor, in a burnt orange-ish gold—the green stone still hung at Dairine's throat and the Sun-Stone at Roshaun's. Nita felt that the four of them had rather been dressed as two pairs.

Lady Miril and Nelaid received them as they entered. Nita and Kit were led away to the table and shown their seats. There seemed to be a moment of struggle where Nelaid wanted Dairine to go to the table as well and Roshaun asserted his belief that her rightful place was in line with him and his parents. The tense moment lasted no more than that—a moment. Disunity could be fatal at this stage of the proceedings with Wellakh. A manservant pulled Nita's seat out for her and she sat across from Kit. He muttered to her out of the side of his mouth. "I feel like a dork in these clothes, Neets. Glad you can pull them off."

She watched as the guests arrived and the table filled. Dairine's face hinted at annoyance but she didn't say anything as she was seated at Lady Miril's right hand, away from Roshaun and Nelaid, where she was sure the conversation was going to be political. Nita noticed that her entire side of the table was females, the other side male. She couldn't help but feel that long tables like this were awkward. At least she hadn't been separated from Kit.

Nelaid stood, offering a toast. "We gather tonight in celebration of a world on the mend."

_As if we've already fixed everything…_Nita thought, _when we've just gotten here and can't even figure out where the trouble is yet._

Dinner seemed to pass like an ice age. Lady Miril was pleasant and sweet, always seeming to know how to sense a quarrel and usually to quell it before it escalated. Nita really couldn't seem to find fault with her. Several of the women seemed to know Dairine already, though they did not necessarily like her. Nita was bombarded with questions, some of them upfront, others slipped slyly into the table talk.

"So you and the Sun Lord have known each other for a long while?"

"You've just arrived in Wellakh then?"

"You're planning to remain how long?"

"You look too young for interstellar travel, just how young might that be?"

Nita answered as best to answer them as they came up, trying to be polite. Finally there was one comment that put her over the edge. "We don't normally have much to do with outsiders, just what do you think you can do here that we haven't tried?"

Her temper was starting to wear thin. She put an end to the questions before she lost it entirely. "We're here on Errantry. I will do what I can while I am here. Beyond that, I think you should wait for R—the Sun Lord to provide the answers he sees fit to share."

Dinner lasted an eternity. Her curt response had clearly caused some ruffled feathers. The women turned their attention largely to Kit, though none of the men on his side of the table seemed particularly inclined to interact with him. He managed to turn the conversation aside from him several times by redirecting questions he received with other questions and asking Lady Miril.

Dairine was tense. Nita could tell that she was trying to keep one ear on the conversation their end of the table, and one ear on conversation at the other end—the conversation she'd rather be involved in. As musicians entered the hall, Nita heard Dairine suck in a breath and hold it.

Nelaid announced there would be dancing and it was all Nita could do to stifle her groan, thinking about her two left feet. "Now that we have dined, it seems only proper that we end the evening's celebration with a time of merriment and dance. If any guest is inclined not to do so, they are welcome to sit and watch…" His smile was friendly, but there was a challenge in it. Nita was sure she could almost feel the hair rise on the back of Kit's neck from across the table. Roshaun and Dairine exchanged looks from one end of the table to the other as Nelaid and Miril rose to their feet and moved off towards a clear space for dancing. They seemed to be of the same mind as Kit. Nita gave a mental sigh. All she could do was try her best and hope she didn't knock anyone over.

Roshaun came and collected Dairine from her side of the table._ Help your sister_, he told her.

Dairine shot a thought to Kit, _It's your turn, go get Neets._

Kit stood slowly, walking around the table to Nita's seat. He bowed, a bit of an awkward gesture, and offered her his arm. She stood, trying not to look as nervous as she felt. She linked her arm in his and followed Dairine and Roshaun towards where Nelaid and Miril waited. So far, so good.

Nita noted with satisfaction some slight measure of surprise in Nelaid's eyes at her and Kit's participation. She didn't understand what he could possibly gain out of trying to make her and Kit look less competent, especially since they hadn't even begun their task yet and he was presenting it as finished. There were a number of words she'd like to have with him on the matter…

When all the guests were assembled in their places, the two lines began walking towards each other, right hands up at an angle as though making a right hand turn. The women and men both walked forward and ended up with their right hands palm to palm and the each individual couple turn a circle. Everyone was in a straight line now, the men facing one direction and the women the other. They all turned a half turn so that the line all faced the same direction. Nelaid and Miril led the line around and into a circle.

Dairine and Nita stepped forward into the circle in-step with the other women. She put her right arm up in the middle of the circle. As a unit, the circle began to revolve in, well, a circle, until they were in front of their original partners again. All over the circle the women turned outwards and the men and women walked toward one another, meeting in the middle in a momentary pause before the men kept walking and the women stopped. Nita was proud of herself—she was often a half-second behind everyone else, but seemed to mostly be managing. She hadn't knocked into anyone yet. The men made a pinwheel with their right elbows, forming an inner circle. Nita couldn't help thinking that the elbow pinwheel looked a little ridiculous. The women turned and walked toward the inner circle, making the outer circle not much larger than the inner. The inner circle revolved clockwise and the outer circle turned counter-clockwise. When they were at an even keel with one person before their original partners, both circles stopped. Nita stopped a half-second too late, stepping on the back of Dairine's sandal. Roshaun stepped up as though nothing had happened and took her in his arms, promenading her around in a little mini-circle the same way everyone else was doing. _It's nearly over. This section repeats until you reach Kit._

The circle moved again in the same direction as before and they continued changing partners until they had been with everyone in the circle. As she was led in her final promenade by Kit, Nita glanced at Roshaun and Dairine. Dairine knew when she was being slighted but was taking it all in an unusually calm stride.

At last the partners bowed to one another and the song concluded. One couple was going to sit down. Satisfied that they had met their requirement of at least partaking in the activities, Kit and Nita joined them in watching the next two dances, which Roshaun and Dairine participated in. The dancing went on a while more before everyone thanked the musicians and took their seats.

After that, it seemed only a few more remarks from Nelaid and a short speech, and Nita found herself on her way outside to meet the people of Wellakh.

* * *

**Author's Note:** It's me again! Did you miss me? No? Not even a little bit? Pretend you miss me and review…please? This link is to a diagram of the dance—it's the same dance I used in A Rescue of Sorts. Don't hate me for repeating, but I thought it was only fair that at least Dairine and Roshaun should know the dance. .com/photos/56706204N02/sets/72157625539590644/


	12. Dreamers

_**In the Closet**_

_Disclaimer: The characters in question belong to Diane Duane. I own only the plot._

**Author's Note: **Sorry it's been a while, but I swear I haven't given up. The next chapter is half done and I'm really enjoying writing it. I was going to incorporate it into this chapter, but I figured better to post what I have now and give you the rest as it comes.

* * *

**Chapter 12: Dreamers**

* * *

Kit glanced at Nita as they stood on the balcony, overlooking a throng of Wellakhit citizens. Nelaid and Miril stood in the middle, with Dari and Roshaun on one side, and himself and Nita on the other. Roshaun stood beside his father, and Kit was next to Lady Miril. It was amazing how, even if someone didn't look particularly like a person you knew, they could still remind you of them so strongly. Miril seemed so much like Nita's mom, her movements, her mannerisms. Nelaid was making a few opening comments, a very few. Neets had a somewhat blank expression on her face as though she was trying not to look too grim, and had to settle for not looking like too much of anything. He wanted nudge her in the stomach with his elbow, to make her laugh, crack a smile at least, but with all of those eyes on them…it seemed like a bad time. He settled for sending her a mental image of Peach sidling up Nelaid's arm to his shoulder, and biting Nelaid on the ear as she had so many times done to the two of them. Success! He saw her mouth twitch in the beginnings of a smile.

He shifted his attention to the front again. That was a heck of a lot of people. He wasn't anywhere near as sensitive at reading a crowd's emotions as Nita was, but even he could feel some hostility, and a lot of uncertainty. He leaned a casual hand against the stone railing of the balcony. _You've stood here a long time…you've watched the people come and go…the faces disappear. What do you think?_

The feeling they gave off was intense. The stones sizzled with the sound of a sun burning hotter than it ever should, scalding, scarring even them, burning so horribly bright, a grotesque distorted brightness not meant to be seen by anything living. It was all Kit could do not to reflexively shield his eyes. The rocks had been burned, had cracked, had been shaken. They remembered, and their memories were long. They knew it could happen again.

Roshaun was finishing his speech, a few words only really, to his people when Kit began paying attention again. "We _will_ make things right, by the land I swear it. These wizards are friends of Wellakh, of the Wellakhit people, and of me. They have dedicated themselves to doing what is necessary to restoring Wellakh's temperament." Roshaun hissed to Kit and Nita out of the side of his mouth, ruining the perfect composure of his face for a split second. "Step forward and bow."

Feeling not quite as awkward as he would have thought, Kit stepped forward, holding Nita's hand, and bowed. All this bowing tonight, seemed like he was ready for a ball, oh wait, they just had one. Mission accomplished. He saw Dairine step forward as well, performing it with an air of authority or regality that he hadn't expected, even in her overconfident self. Nelaid, Miril, and Roshaun turned their backs to depart, the earthlings mimicking them shortly after. As they traversed the halls, Dairine remarked. "That could have gone worse."

"They're uncertain. Thus far they have seen you, Dhairine, depart with the Sun-Lord, bring news of his death, and bring him back to life. I'm still uncertain to whether or not that pleased or displeased them. I think they themselves are probably uncertain. Over the last months conditions here have been hard and worsening. Is it because the alien took him away? Is it because the alien brought him back?" He shook his head. "Time will tell. Yes, it could have gone worse. The three of you are clearly not Wellakhit, and they did not panic, fearing an alien invasion or that their Sun-Lord has turned them, as they might think." He let the tiredness creep into his voice. "If I have seemed unduly stringent in my emphasis on your making the right impression on the people here, it is because I know how much we all have to lose if things should fail, either on our own part or due to the Isolate's interference. The Aethyrs know that tempers here are not of the easiest to please, impress, or assuage. Will you still hold counsel tonight amongst yourselves?"

Surprising them all, Nita responded before Roshaun or Dairine could. "I have a hunch as to what the problem might be, and a number of questions to ask you, Sun-Lord-That-Was," Nita said carefully, using his proper title. "I just haven't figured out whether I ought to follow my hunch first or ask questions first. If I decide to try something first, will you be around later to talk?"

The Sun-King-That-Was inclined his head. "I can always be found."

Nita nodded. She might as well follow her hunch first, see where it led. The four young wizards broke off from Nelaid and Miril to conference quietly in Roshaun's room for a short time. Dairine gave Kit a rundown of what he needed to do for Nita while she was kernel hunting. In the meantime, Roshaun was trying to highlight the most important parts of Wellakh's history and relate the geography to Nita as she made notes in her manual. Roshaun and Dairine had some ideas of their own to check out—Roshaun still wasn't convinced about the problem being in Wellakh's kernel.

Nita went into her pup tent and put on her pajamas—she had no intention of wearing the nightdress that had been laid out on the bed. She couldn't believe the ribbons it was laced with, not to mention the matching bonnet that accompanied it. It rather reminded her of the one she'd seen Roshaun have on in the living room from time to time. Nita emerged from her tent wearing her favorite pair of sweatpants and a dark t-shirt. Kit had also changed in his tent and was wearing lounging clothes as well—a t-shirt and flannel pajama bottoms.

"Did Dairine fill you in on all the details?" she asked, picking up her manual and beginning to rifle through it.

Kit nodded, sitting casually in the chair by the bed. "I'm supposed to pull you back if there's trouble here or if I think you're in trouble there, feed you power as needed. Keep an eye on your vitals."

Nita was checking the charms on her charm bracelet. They all seemed to be in working order. She looked over at him. "How long do you think you can stay up?"

"It's still early yet, I've got plenty of energy, but I'd say let's give this two hours. I'll bring you back after two hours. If you want to go back in, we can sleep for a few hours and go back."

She nodded, flipping through her notes from Roshaun one more time, trying to figure out where she ought to start. If someone was interfering with it, it had to be on the live side. If it was some sort of problem with itself…her bets were the burned side. "Fair enough." When she looked up, she saw that he had pulled down the blankets for her. She climbed into bed and he pulled the blankets back over her, tucking her in. She gave him a wry smile. "It's our first Friday night together as a couple, and we're trying to save the world. Why aren't we doing something new? Aren't we supposed to go on a date or something?"

Kit considered, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Well, we did go for dinner and dancing. And we're trying to save a _different_ world this time. And if I were _really_ lame, I could point out that I've got you in bed now." He shot her a cheesy grin.

"I'm so glad you're not that lame," she snickered.

He leaned forward to kiss her for a few seconds, breaking off the kiss long before she would have liked. He saw the disappointment on her face before she could hide it and laughed. "That's all for now. More after you've done some kernel hunting."

"Slave-driver."

With only a few more preparations on both their parts, they were ready, and Nita closed her eyes.

* * *

Roshaun and Dairine had transported themselves to a rather impressive lake on the live-side. The lake filled the crater they were on the edge of and ran down one side, forming a river that was one of the supporting water sources on the live-side of the planet. The lake was fed by an underground spring somewhere near the middle of the crater. The river didn't flow nearly as strongly now as it used to. Roshaun had thought perhaps there was an obstruction causing it to flow at a less than usual pace. There was no obstruction at the river's mouth, though they still needed to check the spring itself. "I'm surprised you didn't swear by Thalis. In your speech I mean."

"Thalis is unstable; we never swear by her. The land is far more reliable, or, rather, has been until lately."

Dairine was looking into the sky, gazing at unfamiliar constellations. "It is a strange world that doesn't have a moon."

Roshaun chuckled softly. "Dhairine, at what point did you ever think either I, or my planet, was merely normal?"

Dairine shook her head, laughing silently. He had a point. She stood on the edge of the crater as they tried to determine how to best examine the root of the spring in the starlight.

* * *

Nita found herself standing in Manhattan again. It'd be nice if her mind sent her elsewhere for once while kernel hunting. The beach. The moon. She shut her eyes trying to shift it. She wanted Wellakh. She opened her eyes and frowned. It still looked vaguely like Manhattan, but it was a reddish brown Manhattan made of a sort of dirt and sand in a lot of places. The last time a kernel hunt had been in some version of Manhattan had been when they were operating on her mother. She didn't need this right now. Unfortunately, Manhattan refused to give way to anything else and she was forced to hunt through this version of Wellakh. They'd definitely be doing a second run tonight.

She was in Time Square, which she took to mean probably one of the larger cities on the live-side of the planet. It felt so odd to be in Time Square and have it look and feel so empty. She sat down, trying to feel for it in a direction, any direction. The world felt lonely, devoid of anyone else in it. She knew that couldn't be the case. She was here. Wherever Life was, the Lone Power was sure to be lurking close by. The Lone Power was bound into all facets of creation. Despite whatever wizards or the Powers did, everything died eventually. It was an integral part of Life's finiteness.

She sighed, standing. She was either too far away, or it was too weak, or something was interfering with her or it. She began walking, dusting the sand off her sweatpants as she went. She tried for Central Park next, willing herself to be there, knowing that in this half-dream state, she might actually get there. She certainly arrived faster than she should have merely by walking. She found herself crossing a burnt wasteland. She could feel it only faintly, no matter how far she walked, or in what direction. Direction didn't even seem to matter. It never seemed to get nearer or farther away. She gave a frustrated growl, wrapping her arms against herself. Despite all the sand as if it were a beach, she felt cold. Well, she did know there were cold desserts… She had to think like Wellakh. Or like a Wellakhit. Where would Wellakh's heart be? It seemed they'd have to kernel hunt in the flesh.

When Nita came back to herself, she didn't answer Kit's question right away. She sat up, flipped open her manual, and began to record. "I don't seem to be on the right plane. I can sense it—barely—but can't reach it. Am I going about this the wrong way? Do I need both feet firmly on Wellakh to find it? It never got any closer or farther away. When I went into Darryl's consciousness I saw the world according to Darryl. What I saw tonight wasn't Roshaun's Wellakh, or Nelaid's Wellakh, or even the way Wellakh sees itself. It was a butchered version of geography I'm already at ease with and nothing like the land I'm looking for." She paused, looking up at Kit finally, shutting her manual. He was watching her as though checking her vitals, making sure she hadn't suffered any damage on her trip.

"I guess it's time to go kernel hunting," he said mildly.

"Has it only been two hours?"

"An hour and thirty-five minutes. You were shivering and looked really pissed off, so I brought you back early. Are you alright?"

She looked at him, smiling a little bitterly. "I'm alright. Shivering and pissed off probably covers it. I didn't find anything helpful, but I barely scratched the surface. Let's sleep a few hours and try again."

He settled backwards into the chair, watching as she set the alarm on her watch. "You sure you can handle twice in one night?"

She chuckled. "I'm up for it if you are." She noticed him settling in the chair to sleep. "Are you going to stay there?"

"By the time I find my way back to my room, it'll be halfway to the time when your alarm is supposed to go off."

She sat up, throwing one of her pillows at him. "I'm setting it for four hours. That's a full REM cycle. The bed is plenty big. You can stay here if you don't hog the blankets."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Positive." She started to worry then, wondering if she was a snorer. Or if he was. Maybe she should have thought about this more carefully.

He got up, planting a kiss on her mouth while his feet were still on the ground. When they broke the kiss, he walked around the bed to the far side and climbed in. He couldn't help making a wisecrack. It was just too good to pass up. "I can't believe you're sleeping with me on the first date…"

She elbowed him in the ribs. "I hope that bruises and I hope I do hog the covers in my sleep, _El Nino_." She gave the blankets a tug just for good measure and rolled over, facing away from him.

* * *

Roshaun and Dairine were both wearing wizardries that protected them minimally from the temperature, and entirely from the wet. A glowing light Roshaun had summoned led their way down to wear the spring bubbled out. The water bubbled continuously, and enough that they couldn't see it clearly. Roshaun made a displeased face.

_What?_ Dairine asked, exasperated.

Roshaun was annoyed, though his face did everything it could not to show it. _I don't know what the spring usually looks like so I can't tell if this is its usual flow or not. From the amount of water making it into the river, I would say not, but this is the first time I've investigated this myself, so I have no way of knowing if this is or is not normal._

Dairine was not above making an aggravated face at him. _Then we need to find the wizard who is, in the morning. C'mon. Let's go back for now._

* * *

Nita groaned as her watch alarm went off, her fingers groping for the button, muttering at it. She opened her eyes and was mildly surprised to find herself facing a still sleeping Kit. She leaned back into the blankets and pillows, managing to turn the alarm off. She studied Kit's face a minute—it wasn't a bad sight to wake up to. It was rather a good one. He cracked one eye open and caught her watching him.

"Glad to see you managed to get that alarm off. It was driving me crazy."

She glared at him. "Why are you so much more awake than I am?"

Kit shrugged, unable to keep from grinning in the face of her glare. He rolled over once fully so that he was right next to her (not an easy task with a heavy layer of blankets on him). He tried to look innocent. "Can I kiss you good morning or do you already have morning breath?"

She rolled over away from him. "The sun isn't even up yet."

He sat up in bed and asked, "Do you want to do a second run tonight, or do you want to sleep?"

She groaned, sitting up too. "I want to sleep. We need to do a second run."

"Are you sure you're up to it? I don't want you going into this half dead and having something go wrong."

She shook her head. "These are kind of somewhere between practice runs and lucid dreaming. I can do another one. It's just…I went into this one thinking I was going to be looking at _Wellakh_ and with all this geography crammed in my skull and I get there and it's Manhattan again. I don't know Wellakh well enough to know which places are supposed to correlate to whatever force made Wellakh look like that in my head."

Kit let out an irritated breath and Nita looked at him in surprise. "It was so much easier to get places with Ponch. If he was here I could just go with you and at least be there to bounce ideas off of. I should have learned to do things both ways…"

Nita watched the emotions flicker through his face—he was annoyed that he felt like he couldn't help, sad because he missed Ponch, angry at himself for talking about Ponch like he was a tool instead of his constant companion. "Different strengths, Kit. It's why we work so well together. Nobody can do everything, but…between the two of us, we mostly got it covered." She squeezed his hand.

He looked at her appreciatively and leaned back against the headboard. "What did you want to see Nelaid about?"

She rolled onto her side, burying herself deeper down in the blankets. "I want to know more about Wellakh's kernel. It doesn't seem like anybody is keeping track of it. Earth's planetary can't be away for more than a while. Roshaun didn't seem to know what I was talking about when I suggested something might be wrong with Wellakh's kernel. I mean, wizardry doesn't play by the same rules here—he doesn't have a Tom or Carl as his advisor. Just his dad." She blew out an annoyed breath of air between her lips. "Either they're hiding something or they don't know something that they really ought to know by now."

"How do you want to approach it?"

She sat up on her elbows. "That's just it. I don't know."

"Well, the words always come out of your mouth in the end, never fear about th—" He cut off as she punched his arm; unfortunately it threw off her own balance (trying to punch someone in the arm when you yourself are resting on your elbows isn't exactly the smartest move) and she landed back on the mattress with a bit of a thump. He snickered at her.

"You are no help at all, you know that?"

He just looked at her innocently.

"My point was that somebody must have done something to that kernel at some point. I want to know how long it's been missing—if it's missing and not just hidden somewhere. Planets can do all sorts of strange things without their kernel there to hold everything in place." She sighed again. "They can be over-written as easily as—"

"—as easily as your favorite pen edited _The Book of Night With Moon_ after it was swallowed by a white hole." He smiled at her and this time it was his turn to squeeze her hand. "If somebody had it, and knew how to use it, I feel like they would have done something by now."

"Unless there were other things they were waiting for, and they were making small changes, biding their time…"

He nodded. "The monarchy has been in a bad way for a while. Maybe cause a drought, incite an uprising…take power quietly."

"Or not so quietly. If a wizard is causing the drought, he may be able to use the kernel to stop it without ever saying he started it. He presents himself to the people as the new Guarantor, the new savior of Wellakh." She groaned, rolling over and burying her face in the pillow. If someone was interfering, there was a good chance the Lone Power had a foothold. Exploiting someone's greed for power, or even a well intention desire to free the planet from an outdated and overly powerful monarchy and to a new type of government, and turning it into chaos would be exactly the sort of thing the Lone Power would want. Starsnuffer. He was patient. His plans for this planet had been ruined at least once before by wizards—and now the Lone One had personal reasons to wipe Wellakh off the map after everything that went on when Roshaun came to Earth, and when they went to fight the Pullulus…oh Powers. "I guess we need to go have a talk with Nelaid."

Kit took her wrist and looked at her watch. "You really want to get him up at this hour? I'm sure we could, but it might not be the most useful time to talk to him…then again, he'd be off his guard right now. We might get some more honest answers out of him now if he is playing games."

She shook her head. "It's a thought, but I think we're better off sleeping on it and making a game plan for tomorrow." She slumped back down into the mattress, already letting sleep wash over her again.


	13. The Boys

_**In the Closet**_

_Disclaimer: The characters in question belong to Diane Duane. I own only the plot._

**Author's Note: **I'm a terrible person and it's been a long time. I wrote the first third of this chapter ages ago and wasn't sure where to send it from there, but I'm very excited about this chapter-it's a little unexpected-so I won't say anything more.

* * *

**Chapter 13: The Boys**

* * *

Harry Callahan came home from work late. He was sure they were already long gone, but he called out all the same. "Neets? Dairine?" He wandered through the empty house. He had just stopped in the kitchen when he saw Nita's note waiting for him on the table. His tired face smiled. Sometimes she was so like her mother; of course Betty would leave a note if she was going out somewhere. Granted, she never set off across the universe to go save a planet…or all of humanity or….all of everything. He shook his head. Sometimes, it was so hard to wrap his head around what his girls did.

He opened the fridge and peered inside. It was the end of the week—his options were rather limited. He shut the door, meandered a little aimlessly back towards the living room. Roshaun seemed to have taken his things home with him as far as he could tell. Or maybe he had just moved them upstairs out of the way? Harry somehow doubted that, but climbed the stairs to check anyway, moving slowly. He wondered what to do with his weekend. The house was so quiet. There were some bulbs he'd been meaning to plant underneath the front windows for a while now. The weather was supposed to be fairly nice on Saturday with a little rain on Sunday. Maybe he would get around to planting those.

Nita's door was slightly ajar and he pushed it in. She didn't appear to have taken much with her. No major furniture was missing at any rate. Hopefully that meant the trip wouldn't be too long. He closed the door. Dairine's door wasn't open, but he opened it anyway. There wasn't any doubt in his mind—if Roshaun offered her a place in Wellakh, she might stay. The voices in his head flitted around each other. She's too young, she can't make a decision like this at her age…but regardless, she _could_ make this decision and he couldn't stop her. If she was determined to go and whatever cosmic source decided where she practiced wizardry decided she should go, he couldn't just ground her. He'd never exactly gotten the details of it, but sending Nita to Ireland certainly didn't stop her from practicing wizardry. He shook his head. Imagine his own sister being a wizard and he'd never known. Well, 'til a few years ago he would have thought she was nuts if she tried to tell him anything like that. He supposed he couldn't blame her for not saying anything. He was leaning on the doorframe when he caught sight of the GED book on the cluttered desk. He found himself oddly relieved. He was right; Dari wanted to go. But at least the book told him she wasn't going just yet. She wasn't already gone now, without so much as a goodbye. She'd be back.

When he was downstairs again, he picked up the phone and dialed Tom Swale and Carl Romeo. "Hey, Carl. The girls are gone. I know. I was going to order a pizza I thought maybe you and Tom might c—Well, sure I can come over. Half an hour? Alright, see you then." Half an hour or so later, Harry Callahan had parked on the street outside of Tom and Carl's house. He stood for a moment, a large supreme pizza in his hands, admiring the landscaping on the property. It was one of the only really well landscaped yards in the area that he hadn't done with his own two hands. He had to admire the work.

He walked up to the door and he could hear barking on the other side of it, and a Brooklyn accent telling the barking creatures, "Cut it out!" The door opened and Carl stood there. As far as Harry could tell the dogs were pressed up against nothingness, trying to get around it and come perform their major duty in life—jumping on people. Carl closed the door behind him and Harry smiled. It was strange to think of this man, so normal looking, doing the sort of insane things that he knew his daughters did, but then again, there was the proof right behind him: dogs pressed up against nothingness. "Good to see you."

"Same. Don't mind the dogs. I didn't want them to knock you over. Come into the kitchen." Carl led the way and at a word from him, the barrier holding the dogs fell away, but the dogs kept a little distance still. They smelled food and were hoping to maybe get a bit if they were very, very good. "Beer?"

Harry shrugged, putting the pizza box down on the table. "Why not?"

Carl returned with a couple of bottles and a couple of plates as they sat down. "Tom should be home in a bit. He's trying to settle a squabble in the park. This particularly nasty old oak keeps trying to suffocate anything that tries to grow around it." Harry's face must have registered some surprise. "That sort of thing has been Nita's territory a lot of the time. I promise wizardry isn't all chases off on dark quests across the galaxies."

He nodded, absently petting one of the sheepdogs leaning against his knee. They chatted for a while, Harry asking some professional questions about the landscaping, and some friendly inquiries into Carl and Tom's general well-being.

There was a rush of four-legged friends to the door before Carl and Harry had even registered the sound of the car in the driveway. They ran into the door as if hoping to go straight through it to Tom on the other side. There was a muffled, "Annie, Monty, if you don't get off the door I can't come in," as Tom forced his way through. His face registered slight surprise at the presence of a guest. "Good to see you, Harry." He made his way to the table and rested a hand on his back. "Have you heard from the girls yet?"

He shook her head. "No, no, they just left this afternoon. Nita left a note. They should be fine. Kit won't let anything happen to Nita, and I know Roshaun will look after Dairine." He sighed. "Except those hero-girls of mine will probably turn around and try and protect the boys. But…they should all be fine. They weren't going off to fight anyone. Have some pizza, Tom. It's got everything on it."

Tom got himself a plate and a drink from the kitchen and joined the table, trying to read Harry's face. There was something that clearly hadn't quite come out yet. "How's business?"

He smiled. "I can't complain. It's pretty good right now—it's always better in the spring, especially now, so close to prom season. The school year is nearly over."

Tom nodded, glancing out the window into the yard. "I love spring."

They had exhausted much of the pizza supply by the time Harry Callahan got around to the other reason for his visit—granted, being here instead of in his empty house was a good reason in and of itself. "There's been something on my mind. I feel like…like Dairine might run away…if she can. To Roshaun's planet. Welcome? Whelk?" He frowned, struggling for the name.

Tom supplied simply, "Wellakh," and nodded once as if telling him to continue.

"She can't do that, can she? I mean she has responsibilities here. She has school, and her family, and her wizardry is here, isn't it? She can't just walk away from things she's in the middle of. My daughter can't just move to a new planet because she's fallen for some alien prince, can she?" He looked from one wizard to the other with his hands were spread out on the table in a somewhat helpless sort of gesture.

Tom and Carl exchange a brief glance. "One of the things we always tell the new wizards is, 'if you're old enough to ask, you're old enough to know the truth.' A wizard can't reassign him or herself. He or she is sent somewhere because he or she is the only answer to that particular problem. It may be that Dairine is the right answer to problems somewhere else. As far as permanent relocations go, Dairine is a little young for that, but it's not unheard of. She was pretty young during her Ordeal and the younger a wizard is, the more power he or she has. There's also another hormonal burst of power when they hit puberty."

Tom gave a wry smile. "As if teenagers needed another reason to be moody, right? It makes sense that a lot of work they do will be during this time though. Dairine is about at that age. It might explain part of why bigger assignments are being thrown her way again."

Harry looked as though he'd really like to be relieved. He took a sip of his beer. "So this should all pass when her hormones settle down?" _Good luck trying to get her hormones settled down while she's in her first relationship_, he thought. He probably ought to have some sort of birds and bees talk with her. She was too young for that…

Carl shook his head and chuckled. "I wouldn't count on that. Some of it may be hormones. Some of it may just be Dairine. Dairine likes to do things in a big way and she sees things other people don't. "

"She had the opportunity to help give birth to an entirely new race of sentient beings and she created a living planet of computers. She doesn't do things the way a lot of people would," Tom said, raking his fingers through hair that was a little thinner than it had been the day Nita and Kit had knocked on his door with their first spelling problem—Fred.

He shook his head, thinking back to his little girl in her Star Wars pajamas. She _still_ wore the Star Wars pajamas. "She never has. One minute she's doing algebra and the next she's putting curlers on the neighbor's dog or winning poker money from half the guys in her class."

There was a chuckling over that image, followed by a pause. They could all picture Dairine wreaking havoc on the neighbor's pets or outwitting boys her age. Tom took a breath before continuing. "On the issue of relocating, I have to tell you, it could happen. It could happen in such a way as not to allow her a great deal of control over it."

Harry's hand clenched his drink. "What do you mean?"

Carl answered, his voice soft, a little hard to make out through the thick Brooklyn accent. "Was it Nita's idea to go to Long Island that summer you found out about her wizadry? Was it Nita's idea to go to Ireland to visit your sister?"

"No, I sent her to get her away from Kit…and the time at the beach was a family vacation. I didn't know…"

Tom's voice was gentle. His eyes flickered to Carl—he knew that he'd had to sit down with Nita before the Song of Twelve…to explain her options to her. It was one call that he was glad to have missed. "There was no way for you to know. And we didn't make those plans, nor did she. The Powers may have nudged one suggestion or the other into your head. Or maybe not—maybe it was fate that she was supposed to be where she was at the time she was, and no one could have arranged it better if they _had_ planned it." He spread his hands in a "who knows?" sort of gesture. "Nita wanted to be at the beach that summer. I doubt she wanted to leave Kit and go to Ireland. Like so much in life, this isn't the sort of thing we can necessarily choose. She made the choice to be a wizard, Harry, make no mistake about that. There was no one trying to convince her, no one lying to her about what was to come, or making any sort of false promises. She found the book and felt the connection to it. She read the Oath, and made the decision to serve Life. She has served Life faithfully for several years now."

Harry shook his head, "She was too young to choose—" And Dairine was younger…

Carl cut in. "Harry, this isn't a decision that she made once, when she was thirteen. This is a decision that she makes every day. She could walk away at any point in time if she chose. But she doesn't. The fact of the matter is, wizardry does _not_ live in the unwilling heart. If she didn't want to do this, she could stop, and she'd forget about all of it—about me, Tom, Kit. This isn't a decision she made once as a young teenager on a whim. She consciously makes this decision every day, knowing the risks, and knowing exactly what it entails."

"Dairine does too," added Tom.

Harry took an absent-minded sip of the beer in front of him. "And they know that the universe, the Powers, whatever term you want to use can send them anywhere? For anything? And they still go out and do this? You do this?"

Tom nodded. "The job needs doing. Someone has to take care of everything. Just like your garden. If you didn't tend it, who would?"

* * *

Nelaid stood ramrod straight, hands clasped behind his back, gazing out his window into the darkness of the landscape. His long hair was immaculately bound back for sleep. All the same, sleep would not come. It mocked him from the corners of his mind, creeping about the shadows and refusing to come near enough to claim him.

There were three aliens on his planet now. Not just on his planet, but in his palace, and planning to make vital changes to the planet that it was his charge to protect. Not just aliens, but wizards. Theoretically they were all on the same side, but life had taught him that what should be wasn't necessarily what _was_ in this world, or in any other. Their presence on his planet made him feel uneasy. And they were only children. They had no clear idea what they were doing. His gaze continued to comb the landscape. He had read the précis in the manual regarding their previous encounters with the Lone One. The three of them certainly had seen their fair share, but they were still so young. Young people were volatile; one could never know what to expect from them. Indeed, Roshaun had surprised him a number of times, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.

Making no more noise than a rustle of fabric, Miril slipped out of bed and came to stand beside him. "I do believe they are capable of the task before them," she offered quietly. "The Aethyrs have given them this task. They would not have done so if they were without chance of success."

Nelaid's voice was equally quiet, perhaps a little bitter. "Even those suited for a task do not always succeed at it. There are a thousand upon a thousand missteps that might happen at any point in time."

"Nelaid…" She reached up and touched his cheek. "Roshaun has grown stronger, wiser, and more compassionate in Dhairine's company. I do not think they will lead one another astray. She is coming to care for Wellakh a great deal. She has a great deal of conviction."

He closed his eyes. "Perhaps too much. She seems unmanageable and she does not yet understand the balance of things as they are here."

Miril gave the slightest of chuckles, like a passing breeze. "She is young, and she is still learning our ways, but she is willing to learn. She believes in Wellakh…she believes in our son. She will adjust. She may be what this planet needs to recover from some of the old wounds." She managed to nearly cover the pain in her voice, the people divided from the kingship, the assassination attempts. "Sleep now." She took his hand and led him back to the bed, and rubbed his temples until he fell asleep. All the same, she lay awake for some time, wondering what would happen if her _tekeh_ followed Dhairine away from here and chose not to come back. What if it wasn't his choice? What if the Aethyrs sent him away and he couldn't come back? These thoughts troubled her restless mind as she tried to sleep. She stayed in bed, not wanting to rise and wake Nelaid now that he finally apparent to be getting rest.


	14. Levelheaded

_**In the Closet**_

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_Disclaimer: The characters in question belong to Diane Duane. I own only the plot._

**Author's Note:**** I'm sorry this chapter took so long. I've pretty much written the whole thing in the past 2 days. I'm excited at how quickly it came together once I figured out what I needed to do. Again, I'm sorry for the delay—I was a bit stalled after chapter 12, which is part of why chapter 13 took such a different direction (plus I liked the idea of seeing how the parents are coping). Anyway, we're back with Kit and Nita, and I'm ready to roll! If you'd be so kind as to let me know what you think, I'd greatly appreciate it. Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 14: Levelheaded**

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Nita rolled over groggily, groping off to one side for an alarm clock that wasn't there. Her eyes shot open as she felt hands on her wrist. There was Kit, turning off the alarm on her watch after wrestling the buttons for a second. She mumbled a thank you, closing her eyes again. Then she opened them, trying to remember what they were doing in the same bed. "Nng?" was about the only articulation she managed to come up with.

Kit yawned, sitting up. "For such a tiny machine, the alarm on your watch is _loud_. It woke me up."

"Wasn't that the plan?" Now she remembered. She'd done some lucid dreaming last night to try to find the kernel. "I don't remember setting the alarm a second time. We did the first run and then decided not to do the second one."

He pulled himself out of the bed and started looking for his shoes. "I set your alarm so that I'd get out of here before anybody came in to get you for breakfast. I figured it was better than causing an intergalactic incident."

Nita sat up a bit, straightening out her t-shirt. "Can you find your way back to your room okay?"

Kit nodded, tying his shoe. "I should be fine. Worst case scenario I'll wander the hallway 'til someone finds me and points me in the right direction. How did you want to handle Nelaid today?"

She sighed, getting out of bed too. "I don't know. I don't think he's going to respond well to any sort of insinuation that any of his duties are being neglected. I think we do need to consider the possibility that someone is tampering with the kernel, and we need to know the last time it was accounted for."

Kit gave a half shrug. "Whether he responds well or not isn't the point. The point is that things need fixing around here. You figure out how to approach him and we'll get to the bottom of it. In the meanwhile, I'm starved. Are we supposed to go somewhere for breakfast, or do they deliver?"

"I don't know. I don't remember Dari mentioning anything about it last night. I'm going to get changed." Nita went into her pup-tent and found clean jeans and a t-shirt and put them on in private. She came out to find a girl setting out a tray of breakfast. A set of gauzy pink clothes were laid out on the bed.

The girl looked at Nita with curiosity and a little uncertainty. "I've brought breakfast, Miss. The Sister-of-the-Sun also sends these garments with her best wishes." She looked at Kit. "Shall I have your breakfast brought here as well, sir?"

Kit looked a bit uncertain. "Sure. That would be great. What's your name?"

"Myla."

"Thanks, Myla."

She did something halfway between a bow and a nod. "I'll send someone with it shortly." She left.

"Apparently we merit breakfast in bed around here."

Nita was staring at the clothes on the bed. "Pink is not my color. If I have to work, I'd really rather wear something comfortable and not feel quite so…on display." She looked over at Kit and found he was already helping himself to her breakfast at the little table. She shouldn't have been surprised.

He was taking largish bites of some strange fruit and crepe sort of thing. "This is really good. You should try it. And you'll be probably be more comfortable wearing that in the end than in your Earth clothes."

She made a face and joined him at the table. "How do you figure? These are my favorite jeans."

He nodded patiently. "Those are your favorite jeans and you're comfortable in them in here where it's just you and me. Out there," he jerked his head towards the door, "they will make you stand out even more than we're already going to stand out. It will make you uncomfortable. Besides, when in Wellakh…"

"…do as Wellakhit do?" She rolled her eyes. "Fine then. I'll be back in a minute." She grabbed her toothbrush from her pup-tent and took the pink clothes to bathroom. She came out a few minutes later, dressed. "Did you save me any breakfast?"

"No, but mine should be here soon. You can have it," he offered.

They were discussing ways to approach Nelaid when there was a knock on the door and a man entered bearing a breakfast tray as well as another set of clothes. Though they weren't gauzy, they were approximately the same shade of pink as what Nita was wearing. She had a hard time not snickering at the look on Kit's face. He tried to cover it up by thanking the man for breakfast and asking for his name.

"Tefsul, sir. Will you be needing anything else?"

Kit shook his head. "No, thanks."

The man left, taking Nita's empty tray with him. She sat down and started working her way through his breakfast. "I guess someone got the message that you were in here," she offered. "You're right, this fruit and pancake thing is good." She noticed that Kit was looking down at the pink clothing he'd been presented with and she tried not to snicker at him. "You'll blend in with everyone much better in that than your pajamas."

He looked at her with a wry grin. "Sure, throw my own logic back at me. I'll brush my teeth and go change."

Nita ate her breakfast, wondering how exactly she was going to approach Nelaid. Gee, Mr. King of the planet, when is the last time you bothered checking on your planet's kernel? Have you ever even actually seen it? She was sure _that_ would go over real well. She looked up as Kit came back in the room.

He grimaced and asked, "Honestly, is it as bad as I think?"

She grinned. "Be glad Carmela isn't here."

"Oh, trust me, I am." He sat down and helped himself to a little more breakfast. "Any strokes of brilliance while I was gone?"

Nita shrugged. "I think we're just going to have to play it by ear. I think we need to ask him about the kernel before we go trekking around the planet looking for it. It's going to be awkward, and he's not going to like it—"

"—but we're supposed to be on the same side and we need to know about it if we're going to be of any help here, and as it is, we don't have a lot of time."

Nita nodded, leaning back in her seat. "When I talked to Millman the other day, he said even a single extra day of missed school at this point is going to cause problems for us—big ones. We have to be back before school on Monday."

Kit groaned. "There's something severely wrong with being expected to save the world and study for a history test in the same weekend."

Nita grinned at him. "Fortunately, we've got the whole saving the world thing down pretty well at this point I think."

He laughed, leaning over, and kissed her soundly. He ran caressed his tongue along her bottom lip, tasting the breakfast fruit on her skin. His hand was in the hair at the back of her neck, pulling them closer together. His breathing was a little shallow, but he didn't want to stop kissing her. Seriously, was there a better way to start the day than this? He scooted his chair closer to her, thinking that chairs were far too awkward a place to kiss. All the same, he wasn't complaining. He felt like he could kiss her forever.

"Oh God. I'm going to be sick."

Kit and Nita sprang apart guiltily and looked at the doorway. There was a petite redhead there, and of course she hadn't bothered knocking.

Nita's face flushed crimson. "Dari, I'm going to kill you."

"That'd speed up entropy." She shuddered, wondering if that's what she and Roshaun looked like when they were kissing. She turned behind her. "Roshaun, it's more or less safe to come in." She wrinkled her nose and looked at her sister, folding her arms. "I left him in the hallway in case you were getting dressed or something. If I'd have known you were doing _that_ I'd have sent Spot instead and saved myself the emotional scarring."

It was hard to say who was winning the glaring contest at Dairine; Kit and Nita both had murderous looks on their faces, tinged with embarrassment.

Dairine waved them both aside as inconsequential as Roshaun came in. "Are you ill?" he asked. She rolled her eyes.

"Not yet. But let's get to business before they start playing tonsil hockey again." She strode across the room and flopped herself onto Nita's bed, then stood up with a look of revulsion. "Is this safe to sit on, or have you too defiled it?"

"Dairine!" Nita choked out.

Her little sister shrugged and sat on the bed, taking her older sister's embarrassed frustration as a "no." Roshaun came and stood next to her as she started to speak. "Good, then we can get started. Did you have any luck with the lucid dream kernel hunt last night? I assume you _did_ try to find Wellakh's kernel?"

"We did try, and we didn't have any success," Nita said tersely. "Everywhere I looked felt the same—the kernel's presence was tremendously weak and never got any stronger no matter where I went."

"Roshaun, we have to talk to your father about the kernel. If nothing else, we'll need his authorization for the kernel's history to appear in our manuals," finished Kit. "Where can we find him?"

Roshaun looked at him impassively. "I do not know, but I can send someone to find him. Shall all five of us convene in my study?"

Nita looked at Kit, then shook her head. "We want to give this a try on our own. I don't want him to feel like we're all ganging up on him. It'll be counterproductive."

"Did you two have any luck with the underwater spring?" asked Kit. His face hadn't quite returned to its normal skin-tone yet, but he was doing his best not to sound as annoyed as he felt. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't mind tearing into Dairine, but now was not the time. They had work to do. He noticed the muscles in Roshaun's face get slightly tighter.

"No. We lacked some pertinent information. We plan to speak to one of the wizard's from that region shortly," he replied.

Kit and Nita looked at each other and Nita gave a slight nod. "You need to be careful. We think that a wizard might actively be interfering with the kernel as a means to destabilize things here. They might want to cause a problem, knock your family out of power, and step in as the new savior."

Dairine raised a skeptic eyebrow. "The two of you have barely been here more than twelve hours."

Kit took over. "It's a working theory, and if we're right, it means that you could end up walking into a trap today."

"I think the two of you should wait until we've got more information about the kernel."

Dairine's nostrils flared. "I'm not spending all day sitting on my hands. We need to fix this, the sooner the better."

"Dari, you asked for our help. We've looked at this situation. I think you need to stay here today."

She clenched her teeth. "You're not my mother."

Nita felt like she was close to crossing the two feet to her sister and shoving her. She took a deep breath to restrain herself and felt Kit take her hand. "Of course I'm not. But we're both wizards who have been at this a little longer than you have. You've got the worldgate set up—you can come back anytime during the week if we don't get this sorted out in the next two days. One wizard to another, I'm giving you advice. Take it or leave it."

"Great. I'll leave it." She started to get up, but was then uncharacteristically silent. Roshaun had put his hand on her shoulder. After a moment, some of the tension went out of Dairine. "I'm not making any promises," she said, to no one in particular.

Kit tried to keep his face neutral and said silently. _Wonder what he said to her, Neets. Whatever it was, it worked._

"We'll go find Nelaid for you and come back and tell you when and where to meet him," Dairine said, sounding almost bored.

After Roshaun and Dairine left Nita's room, Dairine wrinkled her nose. "I guess I'll have to start knocking when I go in her room."

Roshaun's mouth turned up in the slightest of smiles at her discomfort. "Does the recent development between them displease you?"

Dairine shrugged, "No. It's not like it's a huge surprise or anything, but at the same time, I wasn't exactly expecting it now. There's more important things to be doing."

His eyebrow arched slightly. "Shall we postpone all such related activities until the crisis here has passed?"

She rolled her eyes at him and would have grabbed him by the front of his shirt and probably kiss him…if they hadn't been in a corridor well trafficked by the various palace servants. "Of course not. It just caught me off-guard. I don't like being surprised."

He nodded. "You and I have that in common." As the rounded the next corner, they saw his mother.

"Dhairine, Roshaun, how are you?" She came and greeted them both with the now familiar hands to the forehead gesture, taking one of each of their hands, and smiling at them.

Roshaun's voice was firm. "We're fine, Mother. Nita and Kit wish to speak alone with Father. When and where can they expect to find him?"

"He is meeting with the council now, where you should be. Will two hours from now in the garden be acceptable for them?"

Roshaun nodded. "I will join them now."

His mother gave him a severe look. "No, you will not. The council has been informed that you did not attend the meeting because you are participating in the intervention to help end our present drought." Her expression softened and she turned her attention to Dairine. "Did your sister and her partner sleep well? I have not been to see them yet and see if they needed anything."

"They're fine. We just saw them just a little while ago. They were having breakfast. Thank you for taking them in this weekend."

Lady Miril smiled. "Really, it was no trouble. I'll check on them when I have a moment. If there's anything I can do to assist any of you…"

Dairine smiled and reached out to hug her. "We'll let you know. Don't worry, we've got this under control."

With another smile, Lady Miril left and Dairine and Roshaun remained alone in the corridor, trying to decide how they might fill their time most productively.

* * *

Kit and Nita were still in her room, reading their way through as much of the information about Wellakh as they could. He was sprawled on the large bed on his stomach, and she was sitting at the small breakfast table with her manual propped in front of her. When anything looked particularly important they pointed it out to one another ad made notes on it. They were reading through separate sections to cover as much ground as possible.

"Did you know that there's been no recovery of the burned side of the planet? No plant life or anything has come back, even after all this time," Kit offered, rolling over onto his back and propping the book up on his chest.

"I can't believe that Roshaun's family line has continued unbroken, even with all the assassinations. Cousins, uncles…they always found someone to carry on."

They were surprised by a knock at the door. "Do you think it's Dairine again?" Nita asked. Kit shrugged. She raised her voice to make sure she could be heard through the door, "Come in."

Lady Miril glided into the room, smiling at the pair of them. "How are you, Nita? Kit? Did you rest well?"

Kit sat up, closing his manual. "Very well, Lady Miril, thank you."

"Yes, thank you very much for your hospitality," Nita added.

Lady Miril motioned for Nita and Kit to stand as she looked at their Wellakhit clothing. "Do the garments fit comfortably?"

"Oh, yes, they're excellent, thank you," Nita told her, turning so Lady Miril could see the fit.

"I'm glad. When I requested them made, it was necessary to guess at the proper fit. I knew you had more pressing matters than to attend a fitting."

Nita could only imagine if they had had to stand around with someone pulling at their clothes with straight pins and measuring them. She'd only had to do that sort of thing once or twice and never had any particular desire to do it again. "We've been researching as best we can. Does the Sun-Lord-That-Was have time to see us today?"

She motioned for them to sit down again, satisfied that their clothes fit well enough. "Someone will be here to guide you to your appointed meeting place with him in about half an hour. Are you finding everything okay? Is there anything you need?"

Kit shook his head. "Everything has been great. Breakfast was delicious, and the clothes are very comfortable."

"I'm glad. Are those books where you find your wizardry?" she asked, looking curiously at Nita's manual and Kit's. Nita turned it for her to see more clearly. "It's different from what we use here."

She looked at it curiously for a moment. "I'll leave the two of you to prepare for your meeting.

Nita watched her leave, reminded of her own mother again. Kit got off of the bed noiselessly and came and put his arms around her before she'd even realized he'd moved. She leaned her head back against his chest, breathing deeply. "I miss her so much sometimes, Kit," she said softly.

He leaned down and kissed her forehead, increasing the pressure of his arms around her. "I know, Neets. When all this is over, let's see what we can do about getting to Timeheart again. We're long overdue."

She nodded.

By the time Tefsul knocked on the door to lead them to their meeting, Nita and Kit were both ready. They carried their manuals openly and followed the attendant out to the gardens where Nelaid was waiting for them. As they passed by various people in the halls, Nita found herself grateful for her Wellakhit clothing and sandals. Even though they were shorter than everyone and their hair was the wrong color, at least with the clothes she didn't feel as out of place as she might have. She still wished her clothes weren't pink though.

The garden had gravel lined paths and the occasional bird bath.

Nelaid's hair was shining in the late morning light, but when he turned around to face them, they could see that he looked tired. He dismissed Tefsul with a wave of his hand. He wasted no time with pleasantries, acknowledging Nita and Kit's presence with a nod. "What did you wish to discuss with me?"

"We need to know about Wellakh's kernel, it's heart."

He tilted his head at them. "Why?"

Kit and Nita looked at each other. "We have reason to believe that someone may be tampering with it for personal gain. In order to rule out that possibility, we need to know where it is and who cares for it. You're the closest thing this planet has to a Planetary Advisor and we need your authorization to access the information."

"As aliens here, it is doubtful that such a vital element of my homeland would respond to you," he said dismissively.

Kit locked eyes with the taller man. "You haven't answered our question. Do you know where the kernel is? Are you the one who takes care of it?"

Nelaid raised his eyes up, looking over Kit's head, as though trying to maintain the upper hand while breaking eye contact with the Earthling. "It has not been necessary for me to interfere in the workings of Wellakh's kernel."

Nita took a steadying breath, trying not to lose her temper. "But do you know where the kernel is right now?"

He didn't respond, merely opening his hand and summoning his version of the manual.

They waited while he looked for what he needed to know.


	15. Questions and Answers

**Author's Note:** I know it's been a long time coming. I'm sorry. No good excuses really—busy, lack of inspiration, etc. I know where the story is going now, and I'm working on getting it there, if you'll bear with me. Without further ado…I give you _In the Closet._

* * *

_**In the Closet**_

_Disclaimer: The characters in question belong to Diane Duane. I own only the plot._

**Chapter 15: Questions and Answers**

* * *

Nita and Kit wandered back to her room, frustrated. Their meeting with Nelaid was less helpful than they had hoped, but Nita supposed it really would have been too much to ask for him to know the exactly where the kernel was just now and to be able to account for its location for the last umpteen thousand years. Really, it would have been too easy.

When Nelaid had given him as much information as seemed forthcoming for the moment, an attendant had appeared to lead Nita and Kit to lunch elsewhere in the garden—under a sort of gazebo—with Lady Miril, Roshaun, and Dairine.

Lunch was tense, though Lady Miril did her best to keep everyone's spirits up, but there was only so much one person at a table for five could do. The table had been set out for six, but Nelaid seemed to have no interest in joining them. Dairine and Roshaun didn't seem terribly interested in discussing whatever it was they'd spent the morning working on. Nita didn't find herself with much of an appetite, so the only part of lunch she enjoyed was when Lady Miril asked Dairine if she had been practicing the _cathaw_ and when Dairine had to admit she hadn't been, Lady Miril suggested that Roshaun perform for their guests this evening, if there was time.

Nita and Kit had exchanged a satisfied look at the expression on Roshaun's face; he looked like he was trying not to be exasperated, but was, with his features half-frozen. He'd replied stiffly that they had more important matters to attend to than that.

"_Tekeh_, there's always time for music. The stress has made your nerves tighter than a _lythro _string. It's impossible to make careful decisions under such conditions." Her tone brooked no argument and for a wonder, Roshaun did not attempt any further one. He didn't even leave the table, but rather waited for his mother to make her own excuse for leaving before announcing that he and Dairine would be getting back to work.

So that was how Nita and Kit found themselves back in her room, trying to see what they had to work with.

"Well, he did open up the authorization for more information on Wellakh for us, but what we're looking for just doesn't seem to be here," Kit said, this time in the chair while Nita was sprawled out on the bed with her manual.

Nita sighed, laying her manual open on her stomach and resting her hands on the cover. "We know more now than we did this morning, but we don't know nearly enough. Nelaid doesn't have the kernel, and furthermore, has never had it. Seriously, what sort of Planetary Advisor leaves the planet to fend for itself?"

Kit shifted in his seat. "To be fair, it's not like he's left the planet or ignored the problems or anything. They just do things differently here. He didn't seem to think the kernel was anything that needed interfering from him—or us for that matter. I don't think he likes the idea of us messing around with his planet's software." He sat up a bit, stretching his arms over his head. This was already feeling like a long day and they hadn't done nearly as much as they needed to. "All we can do is keep reading and hope something turns up."

"If we do find it, we'll probably have to have Roshaun with us. It won't be real keen to let an outsider manipulate it. There might be some sort of obscure mention of it in the new material that's opened up," Nita admitted, though they'd been looking.

"I was also thinking we could look at locating spells, see if we can find anything that would help lead us to it," Kit added.

"You want to work on locating spells, and I'll start going back through all the synopses of interventions here?" she offered.

Kit nodded and got up, moving to sit on the bed with her, resting his back against the headboard. "Sounds like a plan." He gave her calf a squeeze and she looked up at him from where her head was at the foot of the bed.

She raised herself up on her elbows. "Behave. I hate Dari being right about anything, but we do only have today and tomorrow to straighten things out here before we have to get back home. Once we're home…we've got all the time in the world."

He grinned at her. "All the time in the world until Dairine tells your dad and I'm not allowed to be alone with you anymore."

She laughed, exasperated, and sat up. She leaned forward and tugged him forward by his lovely pink tunic. She kissed him soundly, and felt him kissing her back. Their mouths were slightly open, and their tongues caressed one another. Nita had her free hand in the hair at the back of his neck. She could feel the earthiness of his mind, solid, there, wonderful. She moved herself forward so she was pressed against his chest, letting go of his shirt.

Kit's back was against the headboard and Nita was pressed against him. He wrapped his arms around her back, biting her lower lip gently, tasting her, reveling in the feeling of her mind and body. Her mind was so alive—filled with growing things, living things, blue and green and so completely there.

They broke the kiss off finally, breathing rather heavily, and both a bit pink in the face. They couldn't help grinning. Nita moved herself to his side and joined him against the headboard so they were half sitting up, hip to hip, and her head was on his shoulder. "Better?"

He nodded, grinning, and putting his arm around her. "Much better. Now I'd be happy to check out the locating spells while you hunt through Wellakhit interventions…"

She smiled at him wryly. "Do you have any idea how many interventions I'm going to have to look through to find something remotely promising?"

"Better get started then."

And so they got to work, leaning against one another and digging into their manuals. Nita muttered to her manual, trying to narrow the scope of the summaries she was looking at. She knew that neither Nelaid nor Roshaun had ever used the kernel, and Nelaid had said he wasn't aware of his father or grandfather having done anything with them. Great. That just left…thousands of years of interventions to look through. Over the next hours she was able to comb through them, managing to isolate the results her manual showed her to interventions by Roshaun's family line. Kit continued reading through different types of finding spells that they could do, but none seemed right for what they needed to do.

They were still at work when there was a tap at their door and Nita called out for whoever it was to come in. The door opened, and they didn't immediately see anyone. Leaning over the edge of the bed, they saw Spot scuttling across on his legs. The sentient computer reached the foot of the bed and gave a tremendous spring and landed on it. The two wizards watched in amusement as Spot seemed to bounce for a moment, as though testing the mattress with his many legs.

"What does Dari want?" Nita asked, looking at the computer and wondering if it had had another upgrade. It looked even sleeker than she remembered.

"Dairine will be here in five minutes." Spot examined Nita and Kit with its eyestalks for just a moment before disappearing with a pop of displaced air.

Kit snorted. "She sent Spot on ahead to make sure we wouldn't be making out when she showed up?"

Nita smiled wryly. "Apparently we must have scarred her delicate sensibilities."

Dairine and Roshaun came along a few minutes later, striding through the door Spot had left open on his way in. Dari was carrying Spot in her warms. Nita wasn't real clear on how the computer had opened the door to begin with. They settled themselves in the chairs at the breakfast table without bothering to greet Nita and Kit.

"We're on our own for dinner tonight—it'll be delivered to our rooms. Have you two had any luck?" Dairine asked.

Kit explained what they'd learned from Nelaid—not much—and how their search through the new material that had opened up was going. "What about you two?"

Dairine shot him a scathing look. "Since you told us to wait until you had more information before figuring out if we were walking into a trap, we decided to work on something else instead." They had spent the afternoon trying to work on plans that would stabilize and improve Wellakh's social and political climate. It was certainly as important as dealing with the drought, even if the changes were going to come more slowly. Then again, things didn't seem to be progressing well on the drought front either. All the same, if there was a wizard out there misusing the kernel, trap or no trap, she wanted to get out there and find him, her, or it.

Roshaun summoned his version of the manual, starting to look through the interventions as well. Roshaun tried to authorize Dairine's manual to access the complete list of past interventions, but he didn't rank high enough to—apparently that was a privilege reserved for Nelaid. She had to be content with looking for a finding spell that might stand a chance of working.

"What about the one we used on our Ordeal?" asked Kit. "It took no supplies. You just had to visualize what you wanted to find."

"It's worth a shot," Nita said dubiously, "but what would Wellakh's heart look like?"

The young king closed his mind, as if concentrating. "Wellakh's heart would be…" His breathing slowed and it was felt like a long time before he spoke. "…Thalis. The planet's history has been fundamentally impacted by our star. More so than most. What if…" His eyes opened suddenly and he started looking through his version of the manual with a surprising intensity, as if he knew what he was searching for.

The rest of them watched, curious. Had he actually found something?

Roshaun expanded the view of the entry he wanted. It wasn't as detailed as he would have liked, but it was promising, very promising.

Nita and Kit started to read it, converting the dates. The intervention Roshaun was looking at had taken place nearly a thousand years ago. The Sun-Lord had taken a trip to the sun and not returned. That wasn't surprising; in what they'd already read through it sounded like it wasn't uncommon for the rulers here to die trying to do something with the sun. But it didn't say this one died. Just that he was gone.

Roshaun spoke quietly. "It says that someone had attempted to tamper with the soul of Wellakh, and that it was the Sun-Lord's job to protect it at whatever cost to himself—because the people could not survive if the planet's soul was gone."

Kit looked at him closely. "So you think he took the Wellakh's kernel and brought it…"

Nita nodded, leaning in to examine the entry and looking for more information. "It's possible."

The room was quiet then, except for Dairine's flippant response. "Then I guess we'd better go get it."

Nita looked at her sister incredulously. "You think it's just going to be that easy?"

"You go to manipulate the kernel, Roshaun has to go because Thalis won't recognize you or speak to you, I'll provide the power, and…" She frowned at Kit. "I don't know what you'll do yet. Maybe you can make sandwiches."

Nita's mind was still reeling, and she found the entry Roshaun was looking at in her own manual. The wizard wasn't dead, just missing. And there have been no mentions of the soul, the "spark" of Wellakh since. Couldn't it really be that easy? She shook her head Since when did going inside a start to find and alter the kernel of a planet sound easy?

Just then the palace was rocked by a large earthquake. Nita and Kit steadied themselves against the headboard, and Roshaun was rocked in his seat.

After a few agonizing seconds, it stopped. There didn't appear to be any more damage in the room than a single decorative vase that has fallen over, though everything had shaken. "You okay, Neets?" asked Kit.

She took a deep breath and let it out. "Yeah, fine." As New Yorkers, they hadn't exactly had much experience with earthquakes. "Dari, Roshaun?"

"I am fine," Roshaun said, straightening himself out and looking over to see if Dairine was okay.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Dairine, looking at Spot and checking him over.

Kit looked over at Roshaun. "Do you have those often?"

The young king shook his head. "No, we don't. I must see to everything else and make sure everyone is unharmed." He stood, putting away his manual and heading for the door. The three Earthlings were on their feet and following him almost instantly.

There wasn't much damage to the palace—fortunately while the quake had felt like it lasted a long time, the damage wasn't as severe as it could have been. But one thing was clear. Wellakh was not behaving like itself. First the drought, and now earthquakes? Something needed to be done, and soon. As they proceeded down the corridor, looking for Roshaun's parents and generally checking that things were okay, reassuring the staff that everything was under control, an aftershock hit.

Nit and Kit braced against each other, and Dairine bent her knees in a sort of crouch as if it would help keep her stable. It didn't last long and wasn't as big as the first quake, but it was still disconcerting.

It didn't take long to find Nelaid and Miril trying to maintain some order and soothe the servants. They were demanding explanations. Ordinarily, they'd demand nothing, but grimly go on with their work. But to have these quakes on top of all the present trouble? And _aliens_ here to fix it? It was getting to be too much.

"_Silence_," Roshaun said, in the Speech, commanding it, and receiving it. "_Listen. _See to it that no harm has been done. Soon all will be well. By evening tomorrow, order shall be restored. Do your part to restore it now by going back to your duties."

The crowd of servants scattered, slightly in a daze. Roshaun slumped a bit against Dairine, breathing a little heavily. Psychotropic spellings had a hefty price.

Lady Miril looked at Dairine. "Did he speak truly?" she asked, glancing at her son with concern and coming over to touch her hand to his forehead.

"I hope so," Dairine said fervently. "We think we know where the kernel is. We're going after it in the morning after we've all had time to rest. It will help if there's a world gate we could use tomorrow morning. We're going to have to travel pretty far."

"Come, let us go somewhere private," Nelaid said. He led them towards one of the most extravagant studies Nita had ever seen. The furniture was all done in leather, or something similar, and was as soft as anything she'd ever sat on. Large carved tables and smaller ones were stationed throughout the room over ornate rugs.

"Have you truly found the answer?"

"We hope so," Nita said. "We think…we think one of your ancestors put the kernel somewhere for safe-keeping. We're going to get it out, and fix it." She sat in one of the chairs, and Kit leaned on the back of it, close by her.

Nelaid looked at them all impassively. "So that's it then. You don't think it might be better remaining where it is? Where it has been safe for centuries?"

Kit looked at him sharply. "We're here because clearly everything isn't fine and dandy as-is. If it were, we wouldn't be here."

Roshaun straightened in his chair, recovering his energy. "It would appear our esteemed ancestor left Wellakh's spark in Thalis's care for safekeeping."

"You _think_ you know where it is, so you'll waste a great deal of sheer energy just going to see if it's there, and then what if you're wrong? Or right? Will you have the energy to do what needs to be done?"

Nita felt her face get red and her temper start to crackle. "We're here to help you. We'll get it done. I'll go into a lucid sleep tonight and see if I can find it so we have a better target for tomorrow. It should be easier this time since now I know where to look." She blinked. "Now I know why it never felt any closer last night, no matter where I went. North, west, east, south, none of it would have brought me any closer to the sun."

"I had a thought about the energy for the world gate, so that we don't wear ourselves out," Kit said. "If anyone here can manage to retro-engineer the subsidized gate we used to get here, it would save us a lot of energy."

Dairine was quick to respond. "We can do it, but if we use the subsidized gate to get us to Thalis, we won't have it to get home with later after we're wiped out from the wizardry."

"I think it's more important that we worry about having enough power for the Wizardry at hand and worry about getting back to New York when it's time to get back to New York," Kit said.

"The Powers don't waste, Dari. Do you really think that they sent you a subsidized world gate just so you and Roshaun can visit each other?" Nita retorted. "I think they sent it for this."

Dairine scowled at Nita and Kit. They were right, probably anyway. It didn't mean she had to be happy about it. "In the interest of not wasting energy, you'd better do your lucid dream and find that thing _before_ we take the gate apart."

Nelaid raised a hand for peace between the two sisters. "Do what needs to be done. If there is anything I can do to assist, inform me at once. I will see what needs attending to in the aftermath of that quake."

Miril nodded and followed him. "I do hope no one was hurt too badly. There may be a delay in getting dinner to you, but it will come. If there's anything you need…let me know." She moved out of the room gracefully, though her concern was evident on her face.

Roshaun looked around at the others. "I can easily re-engineer the world gate. It will take time though. How soon can you be sure of the kernel's location?"

"I don't think it's just a physical place we need to go to, but…also a metaphysical one, if your ancestor who brought the kernel there is still there. We may need to set some extra parameters in the spell to account for it," Nita said, remembering the time she spent on Allahu with Kit.

Kit looked down at her, nodding. He remembered. "It was easier when Ponch could walk us out of trouble…or into it."

Their general plan was simple enough. Nita would do a recon mission through her lucid dreaming to see if she could narrow down the location of the kernel, and Kit would provide whatever support she needed. Meanwhile, Roshaun and Dairine would make the necessary modifications to their subsidized world gate. The four of them discussed the mechanics of what they'd need in their spell for the morning until after dinner (which they ate in the study as they worked)—life support, time frame, everything that needed to be factored in. They worked while they ate, discussing little else.

And surprisingly, Nita found herself yawning by the time they were done with dinner. They had the basic outline of the spell for tomorrow, though there was still a lot of work to be done. She and Kit trudged back to her room fairly beat.

He shook his head. "The spells that computer brain of hers comes up with still gets me sometimes, you know?"

Nita nodded. "Yeah. It feels way too early to do any sort of sleeping but…working with the runt really takes it out of me."

Kit agreed whole-heartedly.

Nita looked down at her Wellakhit clothing. Today had felt so long, but she was comfortable enough. She'd wear it for her dreaming. Who knows, maybe it might give a little luck? She climbed in bed and got under the covers.

"Is there anything you need me to do?" asked Kit.

"Just the same as before," she said.

He settled himself in the chair next to her bed, pulling it up close. "I wish there was more I could do right now. It doesn't seem like enough to just sit here."

"You're not just sitting there," she said, getting up on her elbows. "You're going to make sure I'm okay while my mind goes kernel hunting. And you're here with me. I seriously wouldn't want to be here, doing this, without you this weekend."

He reached out and squeezed her hand. "It's just…I feel like this intervention is a big exam and I've been studying the wrong chapters. I can't help you look for the kernel or manipulate it once we find it. And I'm not totally wild about the idea of chucking ourselves at the sun tomorrow." He glanced down at his knees and gave a wry half-smile. "And I'm still dressed in pink."

She looked at him innocently, "I don't know, I think you can pull it off." She chuckled. "Just be glad Carmela won't see you in it."

"Oh god help me if she did. I'd never hear the end of it."

Still leaning up on her elbows, she turned over and kissed him. She couldn't help but wish, just a tiny bit, that they could just kiss and, you know, not have to save the world this weekend. But that thought was fleeting. Kit, Life, and wizardry all went together for her. Where would she be without him?

As they pulled apart, he said, "Happy kernel hunting."

She closed her eyes and activated the chain of the Speech for her lucid dreaming. She waited, and failed to fall asleep. She tried rolling over. She tried lying on her side. She sat up on her elbows, growled in frustration, and deposited the pillow down by her feet with a sudden movement of her arm. She rearranged herself with her head at what had been the foot of the bed, while Kit tried to stifle his laughter as the sheets got tangled around her. He finally lost it and just burst forth with it.

She looked up at him, annoyed.

"Sorry, Neets, can't help it," he said, not sounding the least bit sorry.

If he were within arm's reach she might have slugged him, but getting off the bed after battling with the sheets would simply be too much effort. She started attempting to untangle herself.

"Here, you go brush your teeth or something and I'll straighten it all out."

Nita, shrugged and realized she hadn't brushed and left the room to go do so. Kit meanwhile made up the bed and fluffed the pillow up a bit. When Nita came back in the room, she threw her arms around him in a big hug and got in bed. It was time to give this another shot. She looked at him, sitting up in the chair by the bedside with his manual open in front of him and smiled. This time she fell asleep.


End file.
